May 25-31, 2006
Music : Musicpicks
Pittsburgh Symphony OrchestraFrom the city of pickles, steel and Super Bowl champs comes Pennsylvania's other great symphony orchestra, the Pittsburgh. This storied ensemble, always a treat to hear, concludes both the regular Kimmel season as well as the inaugural organ festival with a beefy, three-century-spanning program that should show off this brawny band well. Mozart's penultimate symphony, No. 40, is one of only two he wrote in a minor key, and it has a depth and weight that has made it one of his most popular orchestral works over the years. It was certainly profoundly admired by Tchaikovsky, and even in a sprawling and often histrionic work such as his Fifth Symphony, which the Pittsburghers will play, there is ample evidence of Mozartean elegance. The new Cooper Organ gets a workout in the Poulenc Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani, a startling and powerful work from this French composer best known for his wispy songs and piano pieces. The young Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck is the guest stick waver, and our own Jeffrey Brillhart will be at the console for the Poulenc.

