In February and March this year, Marin Alsop, Dalia Stasevska and Joana Mallwitz directed the Berlin Philharmonic in consecutive subscription programmes, uploaded to the orchestra’s Digital Concert Hall.

Alsop’s programme – astonishingly, her BPO debut – is a long and fascinating one, opening with the premiere of Day Night Day by Outi Tarkiainen (Finnish, b1985). A bewitching piece of post-Sibelian atmospherics (moody stepwise bassoon solos, clarinet and oboe recitatives), it does not outstay its five-minute welcome. The pulse is slow, the direction sure, the heritage of Nightride and Sunrise not oppressive.

Read more at gramophone.co.uk