Tapiola is -by far- my overall all time favourite symphonic work. Period. In this case, Sibelius is my soulmate. In this piece, I feel at home. It says all for me. About me. No force on earth can split the love between me and Tapiola!

Never! I'm going absolutely crazy about this piece. This piece deserves an own thread, this thread. Finally.
I've heard many Tapiolas. To me, there's only Blomstedt SFSO. Blomstedt. Blomstedt. The one which is on the Blomstedt Sibelius Symphony cycle.

Appropriate Tempo. To quote mahler10th: "He has a magic with the tempo and an unerring ability to make the sprites in the forest come alive"

Honestly, I own a lot Vänskä/Sibelius stuff, but Tapiola, no. The desaster starts with the opening: way too fast. The Blomstedt one is 19:35, I'd say rather a slower one.
Additionally, the Blomstedt has very good sound quality. I'll embed beginning of the piece and storm section tomorrow into this posting. [EDIT: Done -->]
Beginning:
[mp3=200,20,0,left]http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/21/1446950/tapiola_beginning1397671885.mp3[/mp3]
Another excerpt:
[mp3=200,20,0,left]http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/21/1446950/tapiola_middle3217329208.mp3[/mp3]
Violin storm:
[mp3=200,20,0,left]http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/21/1446950/tapiola_storm3269494181.mp3[/mp3]
Berglund / Helsinki PO / EMI: 14.52
Neeme Jarvi / Gothenburg / DG Trio: 20.09
20 Minutes? I think I have to listen to the Järvi again

The Tapiola part of the Nupen DVD is on Youtube. It's Ashkenazy on this one. The ending of the storm scene with the 5 Timpani hits, is done exactly how I think it's appropriate, a bit better than even Blomstedt.
http://www.youtube.com/v/8noD7PhA-po