Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to play Beethoven symphonies in iconic local settings

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will break new ground — and cover new ground, too — with upcoming performances included in an extensive Beethoven in Your Neighborhood project.

Under the baton of Music Director Manfred Honeck, the symphony will present all nine Beethoven symphonies in one week at iconic locations around the city and at Saint Vincent Basilica near Latrobe.

Beginning on April 26, the project’s Bank of America Symphony Week will include free performances at Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh International Airport, New Hazlett Theater and Carnegie Library Music Hall Homestead.

The symphony then will play Heinz Hall and the Basilica to conclude the cycle. There is a fee to attend the final two dates.

“This has never been done by the symphony before, and it’s been about four years in the making,” said Melia Tourangeau, PSO president and CEO. “The original plan was to have it be part of the 125th anniversary of the symphony, which was in 2021, which corresponded with the 125th anniversary of the Carnegie libraries and the Carnegie museums. It was also meant to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.

“The idea was to bring the orchestra to iconic parts of the Pittsburgh community and really celebrate all those anniversaries together,” she said.

Though the pandemic delayed the project, Tourangeau said, planners remained determined to bring it to the community as soon as it was safely possible.

“What better way to celebrate getting beyond this pandemic than to be able to share this great music with our public again?” she said.

Featured programs include:

• Symphonies No. 4 and No. 7, 7:30 p.m. April 26 at Carnegie Science Center — The concert will take place in PointView Hall, offering spectacular views of the Pittsburgh skyline. At the event, the science center will provide a demonstration of a Rubens Tube, which shows the relationship between sound waves and sound pressure.

• Symphonies No. 6 and No. 1, 7:30 p.m. April 27 at Pittsburgh International Airport — This concert will take place in the landside terminal, before the TSA screening area. Symphony No. 6, known as the “Pastoral,” was inspired by Beethoven’s walks in nature near Vienna.

• Symphonies No. 2 and No. 5, 7:30 p.m. April 28 at New Hazlett Theater — In collaboration with Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, the iconic Symphony No. 5 is paired with an iconic space. The North Side theater is the site of one of the nation’s first Carnegie Free Libraries and its first Carnegie Music Hall. The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh system and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra share the same founding year, 1896, and founding philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie.

• Symphonies No. 8 and No. 3 “Eroica,” 7:30 p.m. April 29 at Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead — Founded in 1898, the music hall is in the third-oldest Carnegie library in continuous operation in its original structure.

• Symphony No. 9, 8 p.m. April 30 at Heinz Hall — Widely regarded as one of Beethoven’s greatest compositions, No. 9 contains the beloved “Ode to Joy.” The symphony will be joined by The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh and four Pittsburgh-area soloists: soprano Sari Gruber, mezzo-soprano Marie Therese Carmack, tenor Benjamin Werley and bass Brian Kontes.

• Symphony No. 9, 3 p.m. May 1 at Saint Vincent Basilica in Unity — A repeat of the Heinz Hall performance.

“Not only is (the Basilica) a spectacular venue, it is one of the most iconic venues in Westmoreland County,” Tourangeau said. “We’ve had a long relationship with Saint Vincent and we’ve performed there several times.

“It was a natural for us to bring the Beethoven No. 9 there. It’s a wonderful institution and a great friend of our organization,” she said.

“This concert, with the magnificent acoustics of the Archabbey Basilica Church, provides the people of our region an experience of excellence in the arts and music,” said Father Paul Taylor, president of Saint Vincent College.

In addition to Bank of America Symphony Week, the orchestra will perform all 16 Beethoven string quartets in collaboration with libraries throughout the region later in the spring.

“Music is the best language and Beethoven is one of its greatest heroes. Beethoven was a visionary who set the standard for leading figures of classical music and dominated the evolution of how humans listen to and understand the power of music today,” said Manfred Honeck, music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. “This special symphony week brings together the power, humanity and revolutionary spirit of Beethoven, the fantastic musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and exciting community spaces.”

The symphony advises that people interested in attending the free performances obtain general admission tickets on the symphony website. Tickets for the Heinz Hall performance are $20-$98. For tickets and information, visit pittsburghsymphony.org.

Tickets for the performance at Saint Vincent are $25 for general admission and $50-$75 for reserved seating. To reserve, visit eventsquid.com.