BSO schedules season of blockbusters and debuts

One of Baltimore Symphony Orchestra music director David Zinman's long-standing dreams -- a concerto for the mighty left hands of pianists Leon Fleisher and Gary Graffman -- will be fulfilled in the BSO's 1995-96 season. Zinman, Graffman, Fleisher and the orchestra will give the world premiere of a new work by the brilliant and zany William Bolcom -- the first concerto in history to be composed in the manner of a jigsaw puzzle.

Other features of the BSO's '95-'96 season, which was announced yesterday in a brochure mailed to subscribers, include: an unusual number of debuts by much-talked-about young artists; return appearances by favorite guest artists; several symphonic blockbusters; intriguing engagements for the all-Mozart Summerfest; and an increased role for the orchestra as a presenter of classical music attractions that do not include the BSO itself.

* The Bolcom Concerto(s): Zinman got more than he bargained for when he commissioned Bolcom for a double-left-handed concerto for Fleisher and Graffman. Bolcom responded with three concertos, based on the ideas expressed in the poet William Blake's "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell." On April 11, Fleisher will perform the world premiere of Bolcom's Piano Concerto No. 1 ("Hell"), with Zinman leading half of the orchestra; on April 12, Graffman will perform the premiere of Piano Concerto No. 2 ("Heaven"), with Zinman leading the other half of the orchestra; and on April 13, these individual concertos will be performed together by both pianists with the full orchestra for the world premiere of the Concerto for Two Pianos Left Hand, the work Zinman actually requested when he commissioned Bolcom.

* Debuts: These include appearances by two much-ballyhooed young violinists: 14-year-old Sarah Chang, who will perform Lalo's "Symphonie Espagnole" Nov. 16, 17 and 18, and the 24-year-old Russian Vadim Repin, who will perform Shostakovich's Concerto No. 1 Jan. 11, 12 and 13. A less publicized, but even more interesting artist -- to judge from his astonishing recordings -- will be the 25-year-old Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, who will debut with Prokofiev's Concerto No. 3 May 23 and 24.

* Reappearances: Veteran pianist John Browning will appear with the BSO for the first time in years when he performs Brahms' Concerto No. 1 Sept. 28, 29 and 30; the fiery young Frenchwoman Helene Grimaud, who made a sensational BSO debut in 1994 in the same Brahms Concerto, will return to perform Schumann's Piano Concerto Feb. 1 and 2; and that sensitive and elegant violinist, Joshua Bell, returns to perform Barber's Violin Concerto Jan. 25, 26 and 27.