Performer: Susanna Mälkki

The traditional end of year performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony took on extra significance in this, his 250th anniversary year. 

Susanna Mälkki, relying on a group of capable instrumentalists, brought out the merits of Strauss's opus.

Altogether it was the sort of music Gerard Hoffnung might have composed if he had ever held a serious music festival.

Guest conductor Susanna Mälkki also showed her mettle in a fully realized performance of Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony.

The US premiere of Dieter Ammann's Piano Concerto gets a great reception in Boston from Andreas Haefliger and conductor Susanna Mälkki. 

Listening to Grisey's Quatre Chants two decades after its composition, it is clear that he was on a threshold into a new approach to dramatic vocal music.