Few soloists today could match the split-second precision and the controlled energy of violinist Christian Tetzlaff in Shostakovich's demanding, complex Violin Concerto No. 1 — and manage to make it exciting.

        Mr. Tetzlaff joined Paavo Jarvi and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Friday morning in a performance that was off the charts for technical difficulty and thrilling for its risk-taking. With Mr. Jarvi on the podium, the concerto was just one highlight of a program that included some of the best-loved music in the repertoire (Mozart and Tchaikovsky) and some of the most inspired playing by this orchestra.

        Mr. Tetzlaff, 36, a native of Hamburg, Germany, studied for a year in the '80s with Walter Levine at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Despite his still-boyish look, he is nothing less than a masterful artist. His playing was intelligent and involving, yet he often turned to communicate to the audience, drawing his listeners into the intense journey that defines this concerto.

        The bleak mood of the first movement echoes the composer's own despair at the time. The Soviet Union had denounced Shostakovich's music in 1948, as he was writing his concerto. It was not premiered until 1955 by violin legend David Oistrakh.

        Mr. Tetzlaff, who switched between two bows during its four movements, projected a glorious tone on his modern violin by Peter Greiner. In the first movement, a lament, he drew from a wide palette of color and expression that ended with a razor-sharp shimmering harmonic. The scherzo — grotesque and cynical, in typical Shostakovich style — was a brilliant feat of supercharged glissandos, double stops and relentless repeating figures.

        Mr. Tetzlaff's tone was sweet and pure in the third movement “passacaglia,” an ancient dance. His spectacular cadenza catapulted into the finale, where his explosive energy simmered just below the surface.

        Mr. Jarvi was a superior collaborator, matching the violinist's bite in the orchestra, but never overpowering. The Music Hall crowd was on its feet at the cut-off.

        Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique,” which concluded the program, was deeply expressive and had a spontaneous quality that gave each phrase a freshness of spirit.

        The playing was truly inspired, from the velvety sound of the violins in their soaring themes, to the cellos, whose asymmetrical waltz had wonderful sweep. The march was exhilarating for its lightness, speed and precision. The audience burst into applause prematurely, but, of course, there was still the finale, played with warmth, emotion and great beauty.

        To open, Mr. Jarvi's unrushed care brought out the joy in Mozart's Overture to The Magic Flute, last performed by the CSO in 1965 under Max Rudolf. The opera is filled with Masonic symbolism; its opening three chords set up an aura of mystery, and its scampering passages had all the charm and humor of Papageno.

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