Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has gained a wider reputation than the medium size of its home city might suggest, benefiting from the leadership of some of the 20th century's top conductors at various points in their careers. In the 2010s, the orchestra has issued a major series of recordings of mainstream symphonic repertory.
The Pittsburgh Symphony was founded in 1896 by the Pittsburgh Art Society, which two years later hired Irish-born operetta composer Victor Herbert as conductor. The move ran counter to the tendency toward German conductors at the time, but the orchestra gained wide popularity. In 1904, the orchestra went to the opposite pole, installing Germany's Emil Paur as conductor and getting a heavy diet of Brahms and other symphonists for its money. Paur clashed with local musicians, financial support dried up after the Panic of 1907, and the orchestra disbanded in 1910. It was reestablished in 1927, intentionally violating a Pennsylvania law against music on the Sabbath and gaining valuable publicity. The orchestra took advantage of the new medium of radio, launching broadcasts in 1936 that were heard across much of the eastern U.S. The following year, Otto Klemperer became one of a series of international-caliber conductors to lead the group, building it into a top-quality ensemble. He was succeeded by Fritz Reiner (1938-1948), Vladimir Bakaleinikov (1948-1952), William Steinberg (1952-1976), André Previn (1976-1984), Lorin Maazel (1984-1996, who had lived in Pittsburgh and studied with Bakaleinikov), Mariss Jansons (1996-2004), a unique troika of Marek Janowski, Andrew Davis, and Yan Pascal Tortelier (2004-2008), and, since 2008, Manfred Honeck. The orchestra has also maintained a pops series that was conducted by famed ragtime pianist Marvin Hamlisch from 1995 until his death in 2014; in 2019, the pops concerts welcomed Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds as a guest. In its earlier years, the orchestra performed at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Music Hall, Syria Mosque (a performance space suggested by a shrine, not an actual mosque), and Penn Theatre; in 1971, it gained its own Heinz Hall, which has itself been expanded several times. Especially under Steinberg and Previn, the orchestra amassed a large recording catalog. Honeck has revived the orchestra's recording activity, issuing a series of recordings of symphonic repertoire works in the 2010s on the Exton and Reference Recordings labels. In 2018, the orchestra issued a reading of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55, paired with the Horn Concerto No. 1, Op. 11, of Richard Strauss; Honeck's Beethoven interpretations have been influenced by the historical-performance movement. The Pittsburgh Symphony, under Honeck, was nominated for a Grammy award for its 2019 album Bruckner: Symphony No. 9.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 "Scottish" (Mono Version)
William Steinberg, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90 / Tragic Overture in D Minor, Op. 81
William Steinberg, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Mezzoforte on 29 jun. 2018
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F (Mono Version)
Leonard Pennario, William Steinberg, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E Flat
Klassiek - Released by Blue Pie Records USA on 1 jan. 1958
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B-Minor, Op. 74, "Pathétique", Capriccio Italien, Op. 45 & Marche Slave, Op. 31
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Klassiek - Released by Soundmark Records on 21 feb. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C-Minor, Op. 68 - Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 94 in G-Major, 'Surprise'
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Klassiek - Released by Soundmark Records on 19 feb. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 "Pathétique" (Mono Version)
William Steinberg, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 nov. 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Orchestral Excerpts from Götterdämmerung & Tristan and Isolde (Mono Version)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue & An American in Paris (Transferred from the Original Everest Records Master Tapes)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Klassiek - Released by Everest on 1 jan. 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Robert Russell Bennett: Stephen Collins Foster, A Commemoration Symphony & A Symphonic Story of Jerome Kern
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Klassiek - Released by Prominence Records on 1 apr. 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
FDS - Tchaikovsky No. 6
Wilhelm Hans Steinberg, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Angel Records on 1 nov. 1954
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40 (Album of 1949)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner
Pop - Released by Ginkgo Classics on 31 mei 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bela Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra (Album of 1950)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner
Pop - Released by Ginkgo Classics on 31 mei 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy, Ravel, Honegger & Berlioz
New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, CBS Symphony Orchestra, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Oscar Levant
Klassiek - Released by Altair on 14 mrt. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner Symphony No. 4, Nielsen Symphony No .5
Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Editions Audiovisuel Beulah on 21 okt. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss: Der Bürger Als Edelmann, Op. 60 (Album of 1947)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner
Pop - Released by Ginkgo Classics on 31 mei 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Manuel De Fall: El Amor Brujo (Love by Witchcraft) (Album of 1947)
Carol Brice, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner
Pop - Released by Ginkgo Classics on 31 mei 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 5 in E Flat Major, Op. 73 'Emperor'
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg, Rudolf Firkusny
Klassiek - Released by West Oak Records on 2 mrt. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat, Op. 73 'Emperor' & Symphony No. 7 in A, Op. 92
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Klassiek - Released by Soundmark Records on 11 feb. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphony (Remastered 2023)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Klassiek - Released by Urania Records on 26 apr. 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo