Susanna Mälkki

"In Ives’ “The Unanswered Question” and “Three Places in New England,” and no less in Strauss’ “Also sprach Zarathustra,” Mälkki displayed an easy brilliance that bespoke intimate understanding of both composers. She also showed a rich technical vocabulary for putting her consistently original ideas across. The CSO answered with an exhilarating performance. It was one of the most remarkable first encounters with a conductor I’ve experienced in a long while.

"Strauss’ richly woven textures, which can sound almost opaque in the wrong hands, shone with a rare transparency in Mälkki’s smartly defined voicings. There was a grand sweep to the sound she drew from the CSO, but also a gratifying intimacy as she allowed woodwinds, brasses and strings to have their moments in the sun. This was polished, boldly assertive and thoroughly musical leadership. It should not be a question of whether but when – indeed, how soon – Mälkki returns to the CSO." (Chicago on the aisle, October 2011)

"Mälkki, music director of Ensemble InterContemporain, managed to not only pull off each work on this demanding program with striking success but sparked the CSO to some of their finest playing of the year. With powerful, richly eloquent, and immaculately balanced performances, Mälkki’s sensational debut is easily the most impressive CSO podium bow of recent seasons.

"As impressive as Mälkki’s direction was in the first half, the thrilling performance of Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra after intermission was finer still. The 42-year-old Finn is a charismatic and dynamic podium presence, leading sans baton with her expressive hands and animated body language, not for self-regarding podium gymnastics but to draw out the music with full force and fervor." (The Classical Review, October 2011)

“Mälkki conducts without a baton and respects transparency. Her rhythmic gestures are precise and energizing.” (Los Angeles Times, November 2010)

"Mälkki’s foundation was a rhythmic energy that constantly percolated underneath the musical surface, producing an unusually fresh rendition of Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony. It was a terrific performance." (Boston Globe, August 2010)

“Mälkki's handling of Ravel's mordant choreographic poem deserved the most hearty clap. The new Finnish star of classical music had controlled the BBC Symphony Orchestra so tightly, the music's sensuous lilt hardening into brash sparkle before roaring balefully toward Hell, with every twinge or layer of colour gleaming.” (The Times, February 2010)

“Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki is an elegant presence on the podium; tall and commanding, she combines strength and decisiveness with balletic grace and expressiveness that hold the eye as her music-making holds the ear.” (St Louis Post-Dispatch, January 2010)

“[Mälkki is] well used to bringing a forensic clarity to complex textures, and negotiating tricky changes of metre.” (The Daily Telegraph, August 2009)

“Ms. Mälkki is a joy to watch and a technical whiz; the two go hand in hand… Exuding energy, she conducts with kinetic gestures and incisive cues.” (The New York Times, August 2008)