Out of Peking Opera for Solo Violin and Orchestra; Death and Fire; etc

Born in Taiwan and a former student of the Juilliard School in New York, Cho-Liang Lin made his European debut with André Previn in London in 1981. He has since appeared as soloist with many of the front-line orchestras in the Old World, Japan, Australia and the United States and such conductors as Paavo Berglund, Charles Dutoit and Esa-Pekka Salonen. He also plays and records chamber music and regularly gives recitals. Musical America named Mr. Lin its Instrumentalist of the Year in 2000.

An advocate of contemporary composers, Cho-Liang Lin has premiered works by Tan Dun, Christopher Rouse, Esa-Pekka Salonen and many other composers.

Previous recordings by Mr. Lin have been recognized with awards such as Gramophone's Record of the Year, not to mention two Grammy Award nominations.

His violin is the 1734 Guarnieri del Gesù "The Duke of Camposelice".

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The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra began life as the orchestra of the Helsinki Orchestral Society, founded in 1882 by the young conductor Robert Kajanus, and was the first permanent symphony orchestra in the Nordic countries. In the first five decades of its existence the orchestra grew in size and stature under the watchful eye of Kajanus.

The HPO became particularly associated with the works of Jean Sibelius, many of whose compositions were given their first performance by the orchestra under the composer's direction.

The Helsinki Philharmonic also doubled as the Finnish National Opera's orchestra until 1963, when the Opera established its own in-house orchestra.

The orchestra has toured abroad regularly ever since its début international appearance at the Paris World Fair in 1900. The orchestra first visited London in 1934 and has since toured the USA on four occasions and Japan. Successful foreign tours have established the orchestra's international reputation.

From the autumn season of 1995 Leif Segerstam, internationally one of the most renowned of all Finnish conductors, has been chief conductor of the HPO.
The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra records exclusively for the Ondine label.