Susanna Mälkki
Conductor Susanna Mälkki is a pioneer as a woman in her field, with an international career. She has specialized in contemporary music.
Mälkki was born in Helsinki on March 13, 1969. She studied several instruments as a child but was given a cello at school, brought it home, and announced that she wanted to play it. She settled on a musical career after attending a music festival in her teens and took cello lessons with Hannu Kiiski. While living in Stockholm, Sweden, and studying cello, her school invited famed conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen to give a conducting lesson. Mälkki prepared a piece and felt an instant connection with the activity. She continued to play the cello, even winning a place as principal cellist of the Gothenburg Symphony, but she commuted between Gothenburg and Helsinki so that she could take conducting lessons with Jorma Panula, Leif Segerstam, and Eri Klas. In 1998, she participated in a conducting workshop at Carnegie Hall with Salonen and Panula.
Between 2002 and 2005, Mälkki served as the artistic director of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in Norway. She made her debut with the Ensemble InterContemporain in Paris in 2004 and was named music director two years later, becoming the first woman to hold the post and remaining until 2013. During this period, she made guest conducting appearances with the New Zealand Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony, the London Sinfonietta (which she led at the BBC Proms in 2007), and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. With that group, she made her debut in 2010 and became the principal guest conductor in 2017 as the first woman to hold the post. Mälkki also served as the principal guest conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon from 2013 to 2016. In the autumn of 2016, she was named the chief conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic, once again become the first woman to hold the post. Her contract was subsequently extended until 2023. Mälkki has also conducted opera, becoming the first female conductor at La Scala in Italy, and making her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in a production of Kaija Saariaho's L'amour de loin.
Mälkki has led a variety of orchestras in recordings on Kairos, BIS, Alba, and other labels, mostly in contemporary works. In 2020, she appeared with conductor Gerd Albrecht and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra on an album of works by Alexander Zemlinsky.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
18 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Sibelius: Karelia Suite, Rakastava & Lemminkäinen
Susanna Mälkki, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 2 feb. 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Steve Reich: Runner / Music for Ensemble and Orchestra
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Susanna Mälkki
Klassiek - Released by Nonesuch on 30 sep. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: Orchestral Works
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Susanna Mälkki
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 1 okt. 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Yann Robin: Vulcano
Ensemble Intercontemporain, IRCAM - Centre Pompidou, Susanna Mälkki
Klassiek - Released by KAIROS on 1 apr. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ammann, Ravel & Bartók: Piano Concertos
Andreas Haefliger, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Susanna Mälkki
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 2 okt. 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Zemlinsky: Sinfonietta, Op. 23, 6 Songs, Op. 13 & Der König Kandaules, Op. 26 (Excerpts)
Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Petra Lang, Siegfried Lorenz, Susanna Mälkki, Gerd Albrecht
Klassiek - Released by CapriccioNR on 3 apr. 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Oscar Strasnoy : Œuvres pour orchestre (Orchestral Works)
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Susanna Mälkki, Dima Slobodeniouk
Symfonische muziek - Released by AEON on 25 mrt. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: The Wooden Prince, Op. 13, Sz. 60 & The Miraculous Mandarin Suite, Op. 19, Sz. 73
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Susanna Mälkki
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 7 jun. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Luca Francesconi: Etymo
Barbara Hannigan, Pablo Márquez, Benny Sluchin, IRCAM, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Susanna Mälkki
Klassiek - Released by KAIROS on 1 jan. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Musica viva, Vol. 24: Helmut Lachenmann
Helmut Lachenmann, Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Susanna Mälkki, Peter Eötvös
Klassiek - Released by NEOS Music on 27 nov. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle, Op. 11, Sz. 48 (Live)
Szilvia Vörös, Mika Kares, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Susanna Mälkki
Opera - Released by BIS on 19 mrt. 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Pierre Jodlowski: Drones
Ensemble Intercontemporain, Susanna Mälkki
Klassiek - Released by KAIROS on 1 jan. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruno Mantovani: Le Sette Chiese
IRCAM, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Susanne Mälkki, Susanna Mälkki
Klassiek - Released by KAIROS on 1 jul. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lotusland - Symphonic Works by Arvid Kleven
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 1 jan. 2010
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Philippe Manoury: Fragments pour un Portrait
Christophe Desjardins, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Susanna Mälkki, Diemo Schwarz
Klassiek - Released by KAIROS on 1 jan. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Michael Jarrell: Cassandre
Astrid Bas, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Susanna Mälkki
Klassiek - Released by KAIROS on 1 jan. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pulkkis: Enchanted Garden / Flute Concerto / Symphonic Dali
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 1 mei 2007
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tiensuu, J.: Nemo / Clarinet Concerto, Puro / Spirit
Studio ensemble, Kari Kriikku, Mikko Luoma, Avanti Chamber Orchestra, Susanna Mälkki
Kamermuziek - Released by Alba on 1 jan. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo