Mälkki, an exceptional advocate for complex new scores, had a tight handle on the orchestral proceedings... she drew playing of terrific energy, taut balances, and bright color from the BSO. The brass and percussion sections, in particular, glowed.
“They were radiant, too, in Debussy’s La Mer, which closed the evening. True, these “three symphonic sketches” are part of the BSO’s DNA: the orchestra gave La Mer’s American premiere in 1907 and have subsequently played it more than three hundred times. But Mälkki teased out a fresh sense of atmosphere and drama in these familiar pages on Thursday.”