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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Richard Strauss: Don Quixote, Op. 35 (Album of 1941)
Gregor Piatigorsky, Vladimir Bakaleinikoff, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner
Pop - Released by Ginkgo Classics on May 31, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky, purcell, cailliet, j. S. Bach & turina : pictures at an exhibition - suite from dido and aeneas - variations on "pop ! Gœs the weasel", works by j. S. Bach and turina
Eugene Ormandy, Fritz Reiner,Leopold Stokowski, Arthur Fiedler, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Boston "Pops" Orchestra
Classical - Released by Infinity on May 17, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E Flat
Classical - Released by Blue Pie Records USA on Jan 1, 1958
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue & An American in Paris (Transferred from the Original Everest Records Master Tapes)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Classical - Released by Everest on Jan 1, 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
FDS - Tchaikovsky No. 6
Wilhelm Hans Steinberg, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Angel Records on Nov 1, 1954
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Falla: El sombrero de tres picos / Ibert: Escales / Ravel: Daphnis & Chloë
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, André Previn
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2000
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
Classical - Released by Altair on Mar 14, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner Symphony No. 4, Nielsen Symphony No .5
Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Editions Audiovisuel Beulah on Oct 21, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Classical - Released by Everest on Jan 1, 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bennett: A Commemoration Symphony to Stephen Foster & A Symphonic Story of Jerome Kern (Arr. and Orch. by Robert Russell Bennett)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Classical - Released by Everest on Apr 1, 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rimsky-Korsakov & Johann Strauss II: Scheherazade, OP. 35 - Waltzes - Polkas
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Samuel Thaviu
Classical - Released by Altair on Jul 8, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Complete Symphonies
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Marek Janowski
Symphonies - Released by PENTATONE on Dec 11, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shahrazād - One Thousand and One Nights
Folk - Released by MAMANOQUIERE on Dec 2, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Harbison: Ulysses' Bow, Samuel Chapter
Classical - Released by First Edition Music on Sep 14, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rimsky-Korsakov & J Strauss II: Scheherazade - Waltzes and Polkas
Samuel Thaviu, William Steinberg, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Infinity on Sep 18, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Enigma (Remastered 2023)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Classical - Released by Urania Records on Apr 26, 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphony (Remastered 2023)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Classical - Released by Urania Records on Apr 26, 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo