Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
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The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is a major symphony orchestra in the United States[1]. It is based at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Cultural District.
The orchestra was founded by the Pittsburgh Arts Society in 1895, and played its first concert the following year. Its first conductor was Frederic Archer, who brought in a number of players from the Boston Symphony Orchestra to strengthen the new ensemble.
Archer left in 1898 to be replaced by Victor Herbert, who took the orchestra on several tours and greatly increased the orchestra's presence. Herbert was replaced by Emil Paur in 1904. The orchestra attracted a number of prominent guest conductors in these early years, including Edward Elgar and Richard Strauss, but had to be disbanded in 1910 due to financial difficulties.
It was 1926 before the orchestra was resurrected with its members rehearsing for no fee, and each contributing money to make a new season the following year possible. The orchestra's leader, Elias Breeskin, was also its conductor for the first few years. In 1930, Antonio Modarelli was brought in as conductor. In 1937, Otto Klemperer was brought in to reorganise the orchestra, quickly raising the orchestra to an international level.
Since then, the orchestra has experienced ongoing growth and development, including building a substantial endowment fund. Fritz Reiner (1938-48) led the orchestra as Music Director for a decade, imposing his precise technical demands while also triggering substantial turnover in personnel (exacerbated by the World War II military draft). He also made a number of important recordings of a wide range of repertory, including music by Mozart, Strauss, and Bartók. From 1948-52, a series of guest conductors led the orchestra, including Leonard Bernstein and Leopold Stokowski.
William Steinberg (1952-76) then became the orchestra's Music Director, taking them on a tour of Europe and recording a great deal of repertory. André Previn (1976-84) succeeded Steinberg and brought the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to a national audience with a PBS television series, Previn and the Pittsburgh. Lorin Maazel, a Pittsburgh native, served as Music Consultant to the orchestra from 1984-1988, and served as the PSO Music Director from 1988-1996. He took the orchestra on several international tours. Mariss Jansons (1996-2004) succeeded Maazel as the PSO's music director, and maintained the high artistic reputation of the orchestra[2] [3].
Currently, the PSO does not have a single music director. Since 2005, Sir Andrew Davis has served as the PSO's Artistic Advisor[4], with Yan Pascal Tortelier as Principal Guest Conductor and Marek Janowski holding the "Endowed Guest Conductor Chair". Since 1995, Marvin Hamlisch has served as Principal Pops Conductor. Davis will relinquish his position in 2008[5]. Recent appearances in 2006 by Manfred Honeck have led to speculation that Honeck might be considered for a more permanent position with the PSO.[6]
After playing concerts in its earliest form at Carnegie Music Hall, the orchestra moved to the Syria Mosque, where many of their recordings were done. The Mosque proved to be an unsuitable venue for the orchestra as it held far more seats than could reasonably be filled for orchestral concerts, and it was also acoustically unsatisfactory. In 1971 they moved to the newly-renovated Penn Theater, a move funded by H. J. Heinz II of the H. J. Heinz Company. To honor his involvement, the building was renamed Heinz Hall.
In 2004, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Gilbert Levine became the first American orchestra to play for the Pope[7]. Their performance included movements from the Mahler Symphony No. 2[8]. In a rare occurrence, the Pope personally requested an encore at the performance.
The PSO has been facing financial concerns related to historical declines in ticket sales and increased expenses[9]. In November 2006, the PSO announced a pledge of $29.5 million from the Richard P. Simmons family as the start of a capital challenge for the orchestra to address long-standing financial concerns[10].
[edit] References
- ^ No. 1: The musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Druckenbrod, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 13 June 2004.
- ^ Andrew Druckenbrod, "Fanfare for an uncommon man". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 16 May 2004
- ^ Editorial: Bravo! The Jansons era ends at the Pittsburgh Symphony. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 22 May 2004.
- ^ Andrew Druckenbrod, "Comfort level continues to grow for Davis, PSO". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 31 May 2006
- ^ Andrew Druckenbrod, "Future succession to keep PSO busy". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 29 September 2006.
- ^ Andrew Druckenbrod, "PSO conductor brings New World of sound". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 25 November 2006.
- ^ BBC News, "Orchestra to make Vatican history". 9 November 2003. (Note: the article is in error, in that Gilbert Levine was not, nor has ever been, the orchestra's "conductor" in terms of a formal position.)
- ^ Andrew Druckenbrod, "Pittsburgh Symphony to perform for pope". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 8 November 2003.
- ^ Timothy McNulty, "Pittsburgh symphony upbeat despite $1 million deficit". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 20 October 2006.
- ^ Timothy McNulty and Andrew Druckenbrod, "Ailing symphony gets $29.5 million". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 19 November 2006.
