In fact, Mälkki made the opening movement sing so effectively that I caught myself humming along with Prokofiev (sorry!) — and particularly enjoying the shimmering depths of the Philadelphia Orchestra sound.
“The piece’s success had much to do with Mälkki’s sense of continuity, and ability to pull together an orchestration with a large percussion contingent into a unified expression. That talent was also evident in Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, which brings together everything this great composer knew about opera, ballet and symphony with the kind of wartime edge that was inevitable with a 1944 completion date. In fact, Mälkki made the opening movement sing so effectively that I caught myself humming along with Prokofiev (sorry!) — and particularly enjoying the shimmering depths of the Philadelphia Orchestra sound.”