BBCSO, Mälkki, Barbican Hall

Yet another dazzling Finnish conductor sheds light on a tough programme

by David NiceSunday, 31 January 2010

Susanna Mälkki: electrifying in a technicolor programmeTanja Ahola

Fashionable concertgoers, if you'll forgive the oxymoron, may have missed the raciest heartbeat of a dizzying week. While Barenboim's Beethoven and Vänskä's Sibelius packed in the cognoscenti at the Royal Festival Hall, kids tagging along to the BBC Symphony Orchestra's "Family Music Intro" and a hardcore of rare-repertoire collectors at the Barbican were treated to a parade of oddball scores dazzlingly communicated by another of those amazing Finnish conductors, Susanna Mälkki, and Portuguese pianist Artur Pizarro.

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