September 26, 27 & 28, 2008

Manfred Honeck, conductor
Joshua Bell, violin

Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Mahler: Symphony No. 1, “Titan”

A star-studded season opener with new Music Director Manfred Honeck! Enjoy Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell. Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine is a pounding thriller. Mahler’s moving Symphony No. 1 depicts the awakening of nature.

October 24, 25, & 26, 2008

Marek Janowski, conductor
Arabella Steinbacher, violin

Bruch: Scottish Fantasy
Berlioz: King Lear Overture
Strauss: Macbeth

European star Arabella Steinbacher debuts with Bruch’s beautiful Scottish Fantasy, a four-movement concerto based on Scottish folk melodies originally composed for violin virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate. Two important works by Shakespeare are brought to musical life by Berlioz and Strauss.

November 20, 21 & 23, 2008

Manfred Honeck, conductor
Garrick Ohlsson, piano

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4

Famed pianist Garrick Ohlsson performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, perhaps the most transcendent of the composer’s five piano concertos. The Symphony No. 4 is one of the most popular and moving of Bruckner’s nine monumental symphonies.

January 23 & 25, 2008

Andrés Cárdenes, conductor
Gabriela Montero, piano

Barber: Symphony No. 1
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5, “Reformation”

Pianist Gabriela Montero joins conductor Andrés Cárdenes in Gershwin’s jazz-inspired and ever popular Rhapsody in Blue. Ms. Montero also performs a few of her own improvisations on the spot, a talent that has made her and her concerts uniquely famous. The concert ends with Mendelssohn’s moving “Reformation” Symphony.

February 20, 21 & 22, 2009

Manfred Honeck, conductor
Mojca Erdmann, soprano
Christopher Pfund, tenor
Hugh Russell, baritone
Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh

Haydn: Sinfonia concertante
Orff: Carmina burana

The vivacious musical masterpiece Carmina burana, one of the most popular works for large chorus, orchestra and soloists, has become so well-loved and iconic that we hear it all around us. In contrast, Haydn’s Sinfonia concertante is lighthearted with its pleasant melody and features PSO musicians.

March 27 & 29, 2009

Gianandrea Noseda, conductor
Nikolaj Znaider, violin

Webern: Passacaglia, Opus 1
Korngold: Violin Concerto
Schubert: Symphony in C Major, "Great"

Violinist Nikolaj Znaider performs the sumptuous Violin Concerto by Korngold, a Viennese master who later became renowned for classic film scores of the 1940’s. Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda brings Schubert’s “Great” Symphony to Heinz Hall for a rousing finale.

April 17, 18 & 19, 2009

Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Denis Matsuev, piano

Rachmaninoff: Vocalise
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3

Closing the Rachmaninoff Festival, Leonard Slatkin presents Rachmaninoff’s elegant Vocalise and his last composition, Symphonic Dances. Russian pianist Denis Matsuev performs Rachmaninoff’s magnificent Piano Concerto No. 3, made even more famous recently by the movie Shine.