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.
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Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 & Schulhoff: Five Pieces
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck
Klassik - Erschienen bei Reference Recordings am 28.07.2023
Gramophone: Recording of the Month24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 "Choral" (Live)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Reference Recordings am 12.02.2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck
Klassik - Erschienen bei Reference Recordings am 13.11.2015
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5, Op. 47 - Barber: Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 (Live)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck
Klassik - Erschienen bei Reference Recordings am 18.08.2017
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, Op. 55 "Eroica" - Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1, Op. 11 (Live)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Caballero, Manfred Honeck
Klassik - Erschienen bei Reference Recordings am 21.09.2018
5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, WAB 109 (Ed. L. Nowak)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck
Klassik - Erschienen bei Reference Recordings am 23.08.2019
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98 - MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra (Live)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck
Klassik - Erschienen bei Reference Recordings am 22.10.2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Complete Symphonies
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Marek Janowski
Klassik - Erschienen bei Pentatone am 11.12.2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 - Johnathan Leshnoff: Double Concerto for Clarinet & Bassoon (Live)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Michael Rusinek, Manfred Honeck, Nancy Goeres
Klassik - Erschienen bei Reference Recordings am 22.05.2020
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 - Dvořák: Rusalka Fantasy
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck
Klassik - Erschienen bei Reference Recordings am 13.05.2016
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven & Stucky: Orchestral Works
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck
Klassik - Erschienen bei Reference Recordings am 10.06.2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Elektra & Der Rosenkavalier Suites (Live)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck
Klassik - Erschienen bei Reference Recordings am 11.11.2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique - Le roi Lear
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Marek Janowski
Klassik - Erschienen bei Pentatone am 01.06.2010
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1 - 4 & Tragic Ouverture
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Klassik - Erschienen bei Deutsche Grammophon (DG) am 01.01.1965
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 "Pastoral"
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Klassik - Erschienen bei Deutsche Grammophon (DG) am 01.01.1954
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Max Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 - Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E-Minor, Op. 64 - Alexander Glazunov: Violin Concerto in A-Minor, Op. 82 & Hugo Wolf: Italian Serenade
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Klassik - Erschienen bei Soundmark Records am 19.02.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák & Janáček: Orchestral Works
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck
Klassik - Erschienen bei Reference Recordings am 08.07.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Marek Janowski
Klassik - Erschienen bei PentaTone am 01.01.2007
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
R. Strauss: An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64, TrV 233
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Marek Janowski
Klassik - Erschienen bei PentaTone am 01.07.2009
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: Petrushka, K012
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Klassik - Erschienen bei Deutsche Grammophon (DG) am 01.01.1967
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Klassik - Erschienen bei Deutsche Grammophon (DG) am 01.01.1954
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo