Both as a female conductor and as champion of new music, Susanna Mälkki has achieved several firsts. She was the first woman to conduct at La Scala, Milan, the first to hold chief conducting positions with such ensembles as the Ensemble InterContemporain in Paris, and the first to be appointed principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic among other orchestras. Her remarkable range may be found here, whether in beguiling performances of the Viennese greats Zemlinsky and Mahler—the latter’s songs with the magnificent Swedish mezzo-soprano Katarina Karnéus—or in a range of contemporary works including Olga Neuwirth’s eerie, dreamlike soundworlds, or the glinting modern sounds of Steve Reich’s Runner, precisely yet attractively displayed by Mälkki with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.