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[Symphony No. 1 in D major "Mein erstes Studium" (composed: Innsbruck, 1834; performed: Innsbruck, 1844)Symphony No. 2 in E flat major (composed: Vienna, 1840; performed: Vienna, Feb.1844)Symphony No. 3 in C minor (string parts only have survived - discovered 2007; composed: Vienna 1846; performed: Vienna, September 1846; wind/brass/timpani parts reconstructed by Michael F.P.Huber for first modern performances on 24 and 25 November 2012)Symphony No. 4 in B minor (formerly known as No.5 - composed: Vienna 1846; performed: Vienna, October 1846?)Symphony No. 5 in D major (formerly known as No.6 - composed: Vienna 1850; performed: Vienna, Easter Monday 1852?)Three Movements of a Symphony in C major (formerly erroneously identified as 'Symphony No. 4 in C minor' - 1846): piano four-hands score presumed never orchestrated. Undated.Notes: (i) The work formerly identified as 'Symphony No. 3 in F major - lost' never existed. Instead, it seems that the work in F major is actually a concert aria with an opening orchestral section in the same key (which was taken to be the opening of an unidentified symphony). (ii) The work formerly identified as 'Symphony No. 4 in C minor' (1846 - of which only the piano four-hands adaptation of its three extant movements survives) is now properly identified as 'Three Movements of a Symphony in C major (not minor): presumed never orchestrated'. It is undated and therefore cannot be included in the numbered canon. It was erroneously identified as the Symphony in C minor now correctly known as No.3 (above).]

The answer to question (a) is: I don't know.
The answer to question (b) is contained in the explanation I wrote for the Wikipedia entry I edited, based on the material supplied to me by Dr Gratl in Innsbruck. So this is the up-to-date understanding of Rufinatscha's symphonic oeuvre:

Symphony No. 1 in D major "Mein erstes Studium" (composed: Innsbruck, 1834;     
     performed: Innsbruck, 1844)

Symphony No. 2 in E flat major (composed: Vienna, 1840; performed: Vienna, Feb.1844)

Symphony No. 3 in C minor (string parts only have survived - discovered 2007; composed:
     Vienna 1846; performed: Vienna, September 1846; wind/brass/timpani parts reconstructed
     by Michael F.P.Huber for first modern performances on 24 and 25 November 2012)

Symphony No. 4 in B minor (formerly known as No.5 - composed: Vienna 1846; performed:       
     Vienna, October 1846?)

Symphony No. 5 in D major (formerly known as No.6 - composed: Vienna 1850; performed:
     Vienna, Easter Monday 1852?)

Three Movements of a Symphony in C major (formerly erroneously identified as 'Symphony No.
     4 in C minor' - 1846): piano four-hands score presumed never orchestrated. Undated.

Notes:

(i) The work formerly identified as 'Symphony No. 3 in F major - lost' never existed. Instead, it seems that the work in F major is actually a concert aria with an opening orchestral section in the same key (which was taken to be the opening of an unidentified symphony).

(ii) The work formerly identified as 'Symphony No. 4 in C minor' (1846 - of which only the piano four-hands adaptation of its three extant movements survives) is now properly identified as 'Three Movements of a Symphony in C major (not minor): presumed never orchestrated'. It is undated and therefore cannot be included in the numbered canon. It was erroneously identified as the Symphony in C minor now correctly known as No.3 (above).

So, to sum up, Rufinatscha wrote five full symphonies; the orchestration of No.3 was recently completed by contemporary composer Michael Huber. Three movements of a further symphony in C major exist in a piano four-hands version. There never was a symphony in F.
We can say, then, that Rufinatscha wrote five and three-quarter symphonies!

Here's a link to the earlier thread on this topic:
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,3821.0.html

It's hard to tell exactly from the audio excerpts, but they sound very promising.

Aramiarz asks:

Dear Alan, What is your opinion about the performance?

Here are the details:
http://www.sterlingcd.com/catalogue/cds1105.html

Well, it's very romantic. At least the music on the new CD is.

I'd advise the creation of a new thread. Thanks!

You clearly have excellent taste, Dennis 

I've no doubt it's very good. But Järvi's second set is also very fine.

As far as I know there is no studio recording on the market

Not so, sir! Järvi subsequently re-recorded the Stenhammar symphonies for DGG in the 1990s:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stenhammar-Symphonies-Excelsior-Serenade-Wilhelm/dp/B000001GP5/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1418912434&sr=1-1&keywords=stenhammar+jarvi

They are superb.

That's very good of you. Thanks!

I can see why the first and fourth movements would grab the attention of anyone listening to this music. The middle movements are surely intended to offer a contrast to the titanic goings-on which open and and close the work.

Listening again, the slow movement of No.3 seems to me to alternate between sections of stunning lyrical beauty and others of immense, almost crushing power. Some sonorities hark back to Beethoven (9?), others look forward to Bruckner. This is astonishing music. The unbuttoned, rustic scherzo, by contrast, stands somewhere between Schubert (9) and Mahler. Extraordinary. Of course, I imagine neither Bruckner nor Mahler knew Rufinatscha, so there must just have been something in the (compositional) water.

By the way: this is often music of an identifiably outdoor Austrian stamp. Of Mendelssohn/Schumann there is not a trace. Still less does Rufinatscha point forward to Brahms.

Thank you, Mark, for your review. I concur with (almost) every word. My only quibble would with the notion that the two inner movements are less outstanding than those in Symphonies 4 or 5. I believe that a larger orchestra and a more generous acoustic would allow for more sheer beauty - as well as more light and shade - to come through.

Thanks, Dr Gratl. That's good to know.

I've ordered the Tschiderer CD too! The TLM will wonder what's hit them!