The Pittsburgh Symphony, under the direction of Maestro Manfred Honeck will perform Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29 at Saint Vincent Basilica. A pre-concert reception will be held at the Fred Rogers Center on the Saint Vincent campus at 5:30 p.m.
Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony rises from a hushed, mystical opening to a noble third movement and triumphant finale, and features some of the most ecstatic music that the composer has ever created. Deep and rich in its sonority and exquisitely detailed in its architecture, the Eighth Symphony is thought by many to be Bruckner’s crowning musical achievement. The evening’s concert will begin with a performance by the Saint Vincent College Singers of Bruckner’s sacred motet Locus Iste, written in 1869 for a Mass celebrating the dedication of a chapel at the Cathedral in Linz, Austria.
Maestro Honeck and members of the symphony will make a guest appearance at the pre-concert reception.
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, has a rich history of the world’s finest conductors and musicians, and a strong commitment to the Pittsburgh region and its citizens. Past music directors have included Fritz Reiner (1938-1948), William Steinberg (1952-1976), Andre Previn (1976-1984), Lorin Maazel (1984-1996) and Mariss Jansons (1995-2004). This tradition of outstanding international music directors was furthered in fall 2008, when Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck became music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony. The orchestra has been at the forefront of championing new American works, and gave the first performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 “Jeremiah” in 1944 and John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine in 1986. The Pittsburgh Symphony has a long and illustrious history in the areas of recordings and radio concerts. As early as 1936, the Pittsburgh Symphony broadcast on the airwaves coast-to-coast and in the late 1970s it made the ground breaking PBS series “Previn and the Pittsburgh.” The orchestra has received increased national attention since 1982 through network radio broadcasts on Public Radio International, produced by Classical WQED-FM 89.3, made possible by the musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. With a long and distinguished history of touring both domestically and overseas since 1900-including 36 international tours to Europe, the Far East and South America-the Pittsburgh Symphony continues to be critically acclaimed as one of the world’s greatest orchestras.
For more information: http://eventregistration.stvincent.edu/pso2017
