Members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Carnegie Mellon School of Music Carnegie Music Hall Pittsburgh, PA November 24, 2025
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048 Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046 Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047 Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050 Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major, BWV 1051 Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049
Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos have nothing to do with the holidays, yet their cheery, celebratory spirit makes them a favorite this time year. A survey of the complete series made for a satisfying evening at Chamber Music Pittsburgh during the week of Thanksgiving. No two of these concertos are scored for the same instrumentation, and a wide panoply of performers were culled from the ranks of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Carnegie Mellon School of Music.
Pablo Ferrández, cello*† David McCarroll, violin† Justine Campagna, violin* Dylan Naroff, violin† Zhenwei Shi, viola*† Anne Martindale Williams, cello*†
Heinz Hall Pittsburgh, PA November 15, 2025
Arensky: String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 35* Schubert: String Quintet in C major, D956†
Following his lyrical and refined performance of Saint-Saëns with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the next evening cellist Pablo Ferrández was featured in a PSO360 program alongside string players drawn from the orchestra’s ranks — the first three of the violins, principal viola, and principal cello. Both the works programmed were strikingly scored for two cellos: the first a remarkable discovery, the latter, a pillar of the chamber repertoire.
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Juraj Valčuha, conductor Pablo Ferrández, cello Heinz Hall Pittsburgh, PA November 14, 2025
Wolfe: Liberty Bell Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33 Encore: Bach: Sarabande from Cello Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV 1009 Strauss: Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40
Featuring a return to the Heinz Hall podium of Juraj Valčuha, this weekend’s PSO program opened with another entry in this season’s survey of American orchestral works. Receiving just its second performance was Julia Wolfe’s Liberty Bell, premiered in September at the Houston Symphony where Valčuha serves as music director. Based in the titular bell’s home of Philadelphia, Wolfe was on hand to introduce the piece in person (I liked how she described Philly and Pittsburgh as “the two pillars of Pennsylvania”).
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Robin Ticciati, conductor Francesco Piemontesi, piano Heinz Hall Pittsburgh, PA October 10, 2025
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58 Encore: Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 12 in F major, K332 – 2. Adagio Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
The second week of the Pittsburgh Symphony’s 2025-26 subscription season saw the first of several debuts on tap in British conductor Robin Ticciati. The program was comprised of two major and deeply rewarding works, one at the precipice of Romanticism, the other, the epitome of Romanticism. Beethoven’s genial Piano Concerto No. 4 brought back pianist Francesco Piemontesi, last appearing on this stage just a few months ago.
Offstage bells used in the Symphonie fantastique
The solo piano opened the work with a gentle resonance, followed by a long-breathed orchestral exposition. The most intimate and personal of Beethoven’s five piano concertos, Piemontesi drew deep reserves of expression. His thoughtful, probing playing perhaps recalled that of his mentor, Alfred Brendel, and he found great drama in the cadenza. In the Andante con moto, coarse strings introduced the plaintive piano, arriving at a spiritual stasis amidst moments of agitation. As if unsure what direction to go after, the closing rondo started in hesitation before robustly bursting forth with vigor and abandon. For an encore, the pianist selected a lovely slow movement from a Mozart sonata.
Revolutionary a work as it may be, Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique was written only three years after Beethoven’s death. Tentative beginnings introduced a dreamlike trance, and Ticciati teased out the richness of the strings, favoring minimal vibrato. I was struck by his energetic conducting, nearly using his entire body as his baton danced along to the music. Still, at times the orchestral balance left something to be desired. The first presentation of the idée fixe that binds the work was graceful and filled with longing.
In Un bal, the harps introduced an elegant waltz theme; a striking dialogue between English horn and offstage oboe opened the central Scène aux champs. A widely contrasting portrait of nature, matters went from the calm to the passionate to the stormy, ending with the forlorn English horn all alone. Matters came alive in the iconic Marche au supplice, given an energetic workout in all its brassy splendor. The closing Songe d’une nuit du sabbat opened in an eerie soundscape, filled with the striking timbres of the shrill E-flat clarinet, tolling bells (performed offstage from the lobby), and a chilling invocation of the Dies irae chant in the low brass.
In a post-concert performance, Piemontesi teamed up with PSO wind players for the latter two movements of Beethoven’s Quintet for Piano and Winds. A lovely pendant to the evening, and given the pianist’s chemistry with these players, I’d love to see him perform as part of the orchestra’s PSO360 series.
Two personal notes. One of my fondest concert memories consists of this same Beethoven/Berlioz pairing. The first of many performances I attended at Vienna’s Musikverein during a formative college year in the Austrian capital, conductor and piano were respectively Claudio Abbado and Maurizio Pollini — two of my musical heroes who are sadly no longer with us.
I am eagerly anticipating Marc-André Hamelin’s next album Found Objects/Sound Objects, due for release at the end of the month. In quintessential MAH fashion, it’s an enterprising blend of little-known works mostly dating from the last half-century. The disc concludes with his own Hexensabbat (Witches’ Sabbath). With obvious allusions to the Berlioz (including use of the Dies irae), how fitting it was for the track to be released as a single the same day as the PSO performance — and it’s a thrilling listen.
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Manfred Honeck, conductor Yuja Wang, piano David McCarroll, violin Justine Campagna, violin Heinz Hall Pittsburgh, PA September 20, 2025
López: “Techno” from Fiesta! Strauss Jr: Éljen a Magyár!, Op. 332 (arr. Nischkauer) Shostakovich: “Waltz II” from Suite for Variety Orchestra No. 1 Sarasate: Navarra Mascagni: “Intermezzo” from Cavalleria rusticana Mancini: Strings on Fire Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23
A celebratory gala concert marked the start of the Pittsburgh Symphony’s 2025-26 concert season, featuring a potpourri of appealing orchestral works guided by music director Manfred Honeck before star pianist Yuja Wang took the Heinz Hall stage. A major fundraising event for the organization as well, and a successful one — reportedly raising nearly $1 million.
Yuja Wang with Manfred Honeck and the PSO, photos credit JMilteer Photography
Techno from the Fiesta! suite by Jimmy López certainly made for exciting first notes of the season with its driving kinetic energy, enhanced by an expanded percussion section. Strauss’ Éljen a Magyár! charmed in its infectiously lilting rhythms, and served as an acknowledgment of the composer’s 200th birthday.
Another anniversary was marked with Shostakovich, who we note died 50 years ago. A waltz from his Suite for Variety Orchestra No. 1 was nearly Chopinesque in its blending of elegance and melancholy. Sarasate’s Navarra featured dueling PSO violinists David McCaroll and Justine Campagna, playing the material with inimitable Spanish charm and coruscating virtuosity.
Mascagni’s indelible intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana (which local audiences got to hear complete at Pittsburgh Opera last season) saw delicate strings blossom into the sumptuous. Finally, Henry Mancini’s (best remembered as composer of The Pink Panther and other films) Strings on Fire was just that — a sizzling, energetic workout.
I heard Yuja Wang play Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto at The Cleveland Orchestra this past March, and was dazzled by her consummate virtuosity, command of the keyboard, and refined playing that revealed details I hadn’t heard before even in this overly familiar warhorse. There’s little else to say about it, but what a thrill it was to see her deliver such impassioned and assured playing with the Pittsburgh musicians, her first local appearance since 2013. Despite a thunderous ovation and numerous curtain calls, she didn’t indulge the capacity crowd with an encore, but perhaps it would have been all but gratuitous after such a satisfying take on Tchaikovsky.
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Manfred Honeck, conductor Beatrice Rana, piano Heinz Hall Pittsburgh, PA June 13, 2025
Auerbach: Frozen Dreams Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 Encore: Tchaikovsky/Pletnev: Intermezzo from The Nutcracker Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93
In the final subscription program of the season, Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony selected a program which has become a familiar format this season: a new work, a concerto with an impressive soloist, and a major symphony to cap things off. Friday’s new work was the world premiere of Lera Auerbach’s Frozen Dreams (which Honeck is due to conduct in Vienna the following weekend).
Lera Auerbach with Honeck and the PSO
Frozen Dreams had its roots in a 2020 work for string quartet. The expanded version for full orchestra gave the composer the opportunity to include some unique bits of instrumentation — for example, scraping the edge of the gong — to create an otherworldly, spiritual dimension, and a dreamy, phantasmagoric atmosphere. A folk-inspired theme took shape in a solo line from concertmaster David McCarroll. Pointillist-styled textures circulated around the orchestra in this captivating music that though required acute listening drew one in. The distinctive tones of the gong returned before matters faded to silence.
Mendelssohn’s brilliant Piano Concerto No. 1 saw the return of Italian pianist Beatrice Rana. A sizzling orchestral opening introduced her fleet fingers in playing that sparkled like the sequins of her dress. More lyrical passages were delicately shaped. Some lovely playing in the low strings and brass surfaced in the central Andante in service of Rana’s graceful pianism. The fiery finale saw the pianist in crisp command of the keyboard. As an encore, Rana had much to say in the lyrical and passionate Intermezzo from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker (part of an ingenious set of transcriptions by Mikhail Pletnev).
Shostakovich’s massive and shattering Tenth Symphony made for an imposing close to the season. A deep gravitas was felt from the very beginning, with the richness of the strings sounding world-weary, further answered by a lonesome clarinet. Gradually, the movement built to powerful and often ferocious climaxes, only to close on a forlorn flute. The Allegro served as an uncompromising portrait of Stalin’s brutality, a breathless aural assault. The following Allegretto began quietly unsettled, and morphed into a grotesque dance. Ponderous introductory material in the finale took flight into what seemed at first glance a jubilant fanfare, but a much grimmer reality was revealed in due course. The work ended, however, in what potentially could be felt as a glimmer of hope — but not without ambiguity and uncertainty.
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Manfred Honeck, conductor Bruce Liu, piano Lilit Davtyan, soprano Heinz Hall Pittsburgh, PA June 6, 2025
Vali: The Camel Bell Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 Encore: Chopin: Fantasie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. 66 Mahler: Symphony No. 4 in G major
Both of the Pittsburgh Symphony’s final two subscription programs of the season are scheduled to open with a world premiere, the first of which saw Reza Vali’s The Camel Bell come into being. Born in Iran, Vali is a composer with strong connections to Pittsburgh, having completed his PhD in composition at Pitt and subsequently teaching for many years at Carnegie Mellon. Additionally, this counts as his fourth PSO commission — the first three of which have been recorded on a recent Naxos release.
Bruce Liu with Manfred Honeck and the PSO
In his prefatory remarks, Vali likened the work to a “dialogue between great musical civilizations,” specifically noting it weaves together European, American, and Persian influences. A burst of energy began, and work explored the sounds of quarter tones – somewhat jarring to the Western ear, but a striking effect. Inflections even of jazz surfaced in this kaleidoscopic confluence of musical cultures, and I enjoyed the dueling solos between violinists David McCarroll and Jeremy Black. A tour de force closed one of the most impressive new pieces the PSO has introduced this season.
Pianist Alice Sara Ott was regrettably obliged to bow out of this weekend’s appearances due to acute tendinitis — much admiration to Bruce Liu for stepping in on short notice (as well as for the PSO360 recital situated between the two performances of this program). Liu has come to prominence after capturing first prize in the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition, so a PSO debut from him was a welcome surprise.
Crisply articulated, the orchestral introduction to Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 introduced the C minor tonality, replete with requisite tension. Liu entered the fold by way of a fiery flourish on the keyboard, while nonetheless purveying a tone elegant and rippling, and the cadenza was given with dramatic flair. The unaccompanied piano opened the central Largo, prayer-like, and probing its great expressive potential. I was struck by Liu’s limber, flexible fingerwork in the stylishly elegant finale, ending in the brightness of C major. As an encore, Liu offered a marvelous account of Chopin’s impassioned Fantasie-Impromptu.
Mahler’s Fourth Symphony is a different animal than the composer’s other symphonies, slimmer and rather classically proportioned, yet still unmistakably Mahlerian. Music director Manfred Honeck drew the orchestral fabric with clarity and transparency, and a classical economy that brought out its details and nuances — and not without an infectious lilt. In the second movement, concertmaster McCarroll played a de-tuned violin, purveying a coarse, rustic quality further enhanced by a shrill clarinet.
In the sprawling Ruhevoll we were given the first glimpse of heaven, plaintive and serene, seemingly at peace — but still not without a certain strife with which to contend. The finale began with an innocent purity, free from world-weary concerns. Soprano Lilit Davtyan perhaps could have benefitted from clearer diction, but I was mostly taken by the angelic quality of her voice, and the way the orchestra deftly matched it.
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Manfred Honeck, conductor Víkingur Ólafsson, piano Heinz Hall Pittsburgh, PA April 27, 2025
Jani: Flare Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21 Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15
Encores: Rameau/Ólafsson: The Arts and the Hours Rameau: Le Rappel des oiseaux
With a Grammy award, an extensive discography, and appearances with the world’s leading orchestras and at the most prestigious concert halls, it’s a bit surprising it’s taken until 2025 for Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson to debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony. It was worth the wait, however, as he treated Pittsburgh audiences to an arresting, majestic performance of Brahms’ brooding First Piano Concerto (though he was originally scheduled to perform the Second Concerto).
Víkingur Ólafsson at the Pittsburgh Symphony
There was dramatic tension from bar one, with a dark and impassioned orchestral introduction. Ólafsson entered by way of a dulcet chorale, scaling to ferocious tremolos. He purveyed a bold and commanding tone, showing that music of great technical demands can be wholly devoid of showy virtuosity. A thoughtful and probing interpreter, Ólafsson’s absorption in the music was absolute, even bobbing his head during the orchestral interludes like a bona fide rockstar before the expansive first movement reached a bleak, uncompromising close.
The central Adagio was plaintive and filled with longing, and the pianist’s deft voicing and phrasing brought out a resonant lyricism. A ferocious fugato marked the closing rondo finale, with both pianist and orchestra seemingly running on endless reserves of dramatic energy. From the piano bench, Ólafsson eyed his orchestral colleagues with joy and admiration — there was some impressive contrapuntal playing to be heard — and the long journey pointed to a triumphant end.
With charismatic charm, Ólafsson addressed the audience and expressed his gratitude to be in Pittsburgh, reminiscing how impressed he was by the PSO’s playing when he caught them during a performance in Berlin in 2013 (reviewed by a colleague here). He generously offered a pair of encores, both by Rameau — his own transcription styled as The Arts and the Hours from Rameau’s final opera (Les Boréades), and the intricate gem Le Rappel des oiseaux. An impressive way to cap off the most significant local debut of the season.
The program began with the 2021 work Flare by German composer Sophia Jani. Loosely drawing inspiration from the poetry of Mary Oliver, Flare was of a colorful soundscape. Clangorous brass formed the backbone of the work, building to bold climaxes in a style that seemed to be a nod towards film scores.
Beethoven’s First Symphony rounded off the program — if there’s a connective thread, all three works program were by German composers, and all counted as one of their composers’ earliest forays into writing for orchestra. A work very much in Manfred Honeck’s wheelhouse, the weight of the introductory material in the youthful C major symphony gave way to buoyant textures that effervesced — though the development was not without fire and drama. The slow movement was articulate with careful detailing of the rhythmic inflections. Wholly at peace and untroubled, but contrasts were sharpened to add tension. A minuet sparkled with exuberance, a warmup for the boisterous finale, with perhaps the occasional hint to the dramatic style the composer would soon develop.
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Manfred Honeck, conductor Francesco Piemontesi, piano Heinz Hall Pittsburgh, PA March 30, 2025
Eisendle: heliosis Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, S125 Encore: Schubert: Impromptu in G-flat major, Op. 90 No. 3 Habibi: Jeder Baum spricht Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, Pastoral
Over the closing weekend of March, Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony offered a program anchored by Beethoven’s Pastoral symphony, certainly an apt way to mark the arrival of spring (and I’m happy to report I spotted some cherry blossoms on the way to Heinz Hall!). In the graceful material that opened the symphony, the PSO radiated a joyous exuberance from the stage.
Francesco Piemontesi, Manfred Honeck, and the PSO, photo credit JMilteer Photography
I was particularly touched by the warmth of the clarinet in the gentle slow movement, hardly portending the storm that lay ahead. The PSO romped through the minuet that followed, with Honeck inviting the musicians to stomp their feet, perhaps giving the authentic air of a country dance. Ample drama painted the ensuing storm in vivid realism, making the closing Shepherd’s Song all the more rewarding.
Prefacing the Beethoven was the 2019 work Jeder Baum spricht (“Every Tree Speaks”) by Iranian composer Iman Habibi. Written for the Philadelphia Orchestra’s celebration of Beethoven’s 250th anniversary, it was explicitly conceived to precede the Fifth and Sixth symphonies, and makes numerous if somewhat veiled references to both. The title comes from Beethoven’s diaries, and in his prerecorded video remarks, Habibi noted a further resonance to the current climate crisis. An invocation of the fate motif from the Fifth opened, and a panoply of nature sounds abounded in this brief, five-minute prelude.
Opening the program was another contemporary work, a 2021 piece by Austrian composer Hannah Eisendle entitled heliosis (a medical term for sunstroke). Following an attention-grabbing opening, there was a retreat to a desolate, sun-drenched soundscape. The scoring emphasized the percussion, and its driving rhythms to my ears echoed Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.
The program further featured pianist Francesco Piemontesi in Liszt’s Second Piano Concerto (a work I also heard him play at the Chicago Symphony just a few months earlier). Gentle winds began, answered by rolling arpeggios across the piano, as if gingerly exploring the potential of the instrument. Virtuosity was quickly ramped up, however, with the theme being transformed into an energetic march. In a more serene moment, the piano was in a richly lyrical duet with the cello (Anne Martindale Williams), a moment of respite before the fiery end. As an encore, the pianist selected Schubert’s G-flat impromptu — lovely and lyrical, and also a favorite of Piemontesi’s mentor Alfred Brendel.
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Manfred Honeck, conductor Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cello Heinz Hall Pittsburgh, PA March 21, 2025
Shekhar: Lumina Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 107 Encore: I Say a Little Prayer Strauss: Don Juan, Op. 20 Strauss: Symphonic Fantasy from Arabella, Op. 79 (arr. Honeck/Ille)
The Pittsburgh Symphony is to be commended for its advocacy of contemporary music, with many of this season’s programs introducing a recent work by a living composer. This week’s program began with the 2020 work Lumina by Nina Shekhar. Shekhar is currently a doctoral student in music composition at Princeton (presumably classmates with Hannah Ishizaki, featured on a PSO program a month ago). The composer also draws from an engineering background, evident in the present work that concerns the spectrum of light.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason with Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony
It’s a work that demands attention from both performers and audience. Silence is just as important as sound, and effects are achieved through subtle, nearly imperceptible gestures: microtones, harmonics, bowing of the vibraphone. A soft-spoken essay, it occasionally burgeoned into strident climaxes. I’m not sure this is a piece that fully earned the attention it required, yet I appreciate the PSO’s attention to a rising composer.
The main draw of the evening was the Pittsburgh debut of cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason in the Cello Concerto No. 1 of Shostakovich. Kanneh-Mason drew a fittingly gritty tone out of his Matteo Goffriller instrument that dates from 1700, delivering a variation on the composer’s musical signature with a caustic bite. The cellist was flexible and limber, imbuing the score with character and color. Manfred Honeck and the PSO supported the soloist with piquant accompaniment. Unusually for Shostakovich, the horn is the only brass instrument used — a tip of the hat to William Caballero for single-handedly serving as the brass section. The Moderato was of desolate, pained lyricism, reduced to a skeletal orchestration.
Like the composer’s First Violin Concerto, an extended cadenza served as effectively a standalone movement in the heart of the work. One was struck by Kanneh-Mason’s expressive range — and while not an overtly virtuosic affair, the cellist showed a deep command of his instrument. The finale was quintessential Shostakovich in both its urgency and coloristic writing, up to the blistering end. As an encore, Kanneh-Mason offered a transcription I Say a Little Prayer, the Burt Bacharach song made famous by both Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin — a lovely piece in its jazzy pizzicato (for a recording, see Kanneh-Mason’s warmly recommend album Song).
The second half was devoted to Richard Strauss, beginning with his iconic tone poem Don Juan. Its opening was akin to drinking from a firehose, with blazing virtuosity and brassy splendor. The music crested to searing passions, highlighted by a long and languid oboe solo from Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida. By the coda, matters came crashing down for a tragic, somber end.
Closing the program was an appealing alternative to the more well-worn tone poems, in the world premiere of a suite based on Strauss’ opera Arabella. Conceived by Manfred Honeck and arranged by Tomáš Ille (a team that has previously devised suites based on Elektra and Janáček’s Jenůfa), it captured the essence of the opera in a span of eighteen minutes. A bold, dense opening was arresting in its rich chromaticism. A lilting waltz — in a similar spirit to Rosenkavalier — contrasted, and the PSO’s superb playing brought out a gorgeous lyricism, leading to a brilliant close.
quasi-faust 