Junge Deutsche Philharmonie . Susanna Mälkki

When you listen to Haydn's final symphony, the 'London', you hear, right up until the final bar, nothing less than harmonic and rhythmic ingenuity. 'Papa' Joseph Haydn proves that 'old' should not be a synonym for 'conservative'. However, young composers do not always wish to kick against tradition. None of the three 'modern' composers on the programme have radically broken with the musical past. Paul Hindemith is recognised as an unpredictable musician. In the twenties, he wrote atonal pieces and made his name in avant-garde musical theatre. He equally focused his energies on the past. At the Berlin premiere of his late romantic symphony, 'Mathis der Maler', on 12th March 1934, he won nothing but praise, even though it was Jewish music. Bernd Aloïs Zimmermann and Enno Poppe shift their musical horizons a great deal further. They gravitate towards pop and non-Western music. What is presented here is a good and exciting cocktail of recognition and renewal. The Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki not only has a flamboyant flair for complex music, but also keeps the ambitious young members of this orchestra in line.