MUSSORGSKY/ Rimsky-Korsakov
Night on Bald Mountain
Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky was originally titled St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain, referring to a traditional belief that a Witches' Sabbath is held annually on St. John's Night (June 24) on Mount Triglav, near Kiev. The work was left uncompleted at the composer's death and was subsequently edited and revised by his friend, Rimsky-Korsakov. Mussorgsky's own description of the piece refers to a "subterranean din of supernatural voices" and a Black Mass glorifying the god Chernobog, who appears as a black goat. Finally, the sound of a village church bell "disperses the Spirits of Darkness." The work was first performed by the New York Philharmonic on February 26, 1920, conducted by Josef Stransky, and, most recently, on a Summertime Classics program in July 2005, conducted by Bramwell Tovey.

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)
Violin Concerto No. 1 (1947-48)
It was a dangerous time for music in 1948 when Shostakovich was completing his First Violin Concerto—during Stalin’s regime, a month after the notorious Zhdanov Decrees had censured the composer for “bourgeois, formalist deviations.” When he and other composers were summoned before Zhdanov’s conference, his works were deemed to appeal to “foreign bandits and imperialists.” Appearing repentant and remorseful, Shostakovich said: “I have always striven to have the people accept my music. I have always heeded criticism directed against me, and tried in every way to work better and harder.” Still, it would be seven years before the dedicatee, David Oistrakh, courageously premiered the Violin Concerto. Two months later, he joined the New York Philharmonic for its U.S. premiere. From ominous Nocturne to spectacular Burlesque, it has become not only a virtuoso vehicle for the soloist but a masterpiece for all time.

David Zinman is in his 14th season as music director of the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich, following many years as a regular guest conductor there. In 1998 he completed his 13-year tenure as music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and became music director of the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he also is program director of the recently formed American Academy of Conducting at Aspen. He has toured widely with both the Tonhalle and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras in Europe, North America, and the Far East, including in such music centers as Berlin, Vienna, Frankfurt, London, Munich, Paris, and Milan.

David Zinman made his American conducting debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1967, and has since led many of the world's leading orchestras. His 2008–09 season engagements include the Chicago Symphony, National Symphony, Philadelphia, and St. Louis Symphony orchestras, as well as, in Europe, the Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Zinman has served as music director of the Rochester Philharmonic (1974–85), Rotterdam Philharmonic (1979–82), and Netherlands Chamber Orchestra (1964–77); he was artistic director of the Minnesota Orchestra's Viennese Sommerfest from 1994 to 1996. As guest conductor, he has regularly led the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, New York Philharmonic, and The Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras, and has appeared regularly at the Blossom, Hollywood Bowl, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, Saratoga, and Tanglewood music festivals. He conducts and records frequently with major European orchestras.

Mr. Zinman's discography of more than 90 recordings has earned numerous international honors, including five Grammy Awards, two Grand Prix du Disque awards, two Edison Prizes, the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, and a Gramophone Award. With the Tonhalle, he has recorded the complete Beethoven symphonies and concertos and the complete Strauss tone poems; he is in the process of completing a cycle of the Mahler symphonies.

Born in 1936, David Zinman graduated from Oberlin Conservatory and pursued advanced work in composition at the University of Minnesota. Conducting studies at the Boston Symphony's Tanglewood Music Center brought him to the attention of Pierre Monteux, who guided his musical development and gave him his first important conducting opportunities with the London Symphony Orchestra and at the 1963 Holland Festival. Mr. Zinman last conducted the New York Philharmonic in May 2006.

Violinist Christian Tetzlaff is known for performances and recordings of a broad spectrum of the repertoire, ranging from Bach’s unaccompanied sonatas and partitas to 19th-century masterworks by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, and Brahms, and from 20thcentury concertos by Bartók, Berg, and Shostakovich to world premieres of contemporary works. He has appeared with the orchestras of New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Toronto, among many others, and with major European ensembles including the Berlin, Vienna, and Rotterdam philharmonic orchestras, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw. He also collaborates frequently with distinguished artists in chamber music performances and is the founder of the Tetzlaff Quartet.

Highlights of Christian Tetzlaff’s 2008–09 North American season include appearances with The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Carnegie Hall; the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras; the Cincinnati and Houston Symphony Orchestras; and the Toronto Symphony, where he performed the North American premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Violin Concerto, Mambo, Blues and Tarantella, written specifically for him. He also gave all-Bach recitals in five U.S. cities; performed with pianist Leif Ove Andsnes in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Boston, Princeton, and New York; and played with the Tetzlaff Quartet, which made its North American debut in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and New York.

Mr. Tetzlaff's recordings include concertos ranging from Haydn to Bartók; an album of 20th-century sonatas by Janácek, Debussy, Ravel, and Nielsen with Mr. Andsnes; the complete works for violin and orchestra of Jean Sibelius with the Danish National Radio Orchestra and Thomas Dausgaard; a Grammy-nominated album of Bartók’s Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 with Mr. Andsnes, and the Bartók Sonata for Solo Violin, among others. His most recent releases feature the Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin on the Musical Heritage and Haenssler labels; the Brahms and Joachim Violin Concertos with the Danish Radio Orchestra and Thomas Dausgaard for Virgin Classics; and Berg’s Chamber Concerto for Piano, Violin, and 13 Wind Instruments, with pianist Mitsuko Uchida and the Ensemble Intercontemporain led by Pierre Boulez on Decca.