United States Various: Lang Lang (piano), Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra / Manfred Honeck (conductor). Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, 26.9.2026. (SJ)
Bernstein – Candide – Overture
Bizet – Carmen Suites (arr. Manfred Honeck)
Chick Corea – La Fiesta (for two cellos, strings and percussion)
Beethoven – Piano Concerto No.5 in E-flat major, Op.73, ‘Emperor’
Encore: Liszt – Consolation No.2 in E major
A gala concert marked the opening of the Pittsburgh Symphony’s 2026 season and typical of gala programs, it offered a selection of orchestral favorites and a blockbuster concerto with a star soloist. There was an infectious atmosphere of celebration in sold-out Heinz Hall, a worthy way to inaugurate a new season.
Recently returned from an extensive European tour, music director Manfred Honeck and the ensemble played with a palpable exuberance. The evening opened with the Overture to Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, crackling with wit and good humor. The music was by turns boisterous, charming and touchingly lyrical. Honeck took to the microphone and recounted a meeting with Bernstein in Vienna in which the elder conductor offered enthusiastic encouragement.
A set of three suites from Bizet’s Carmen Suites followed. Requisite Spanish fire was given to the ‘Aragonaise’, countered by sultry lines in the winds. A silvery flute (Nikolai Song) was underpinned by harp in the ‘Intermezzo’ and it closed on the vigorous march of ‘Toreadors’.
In addition to being a jazz great, Chick Corea was remarkably accomplished in the classical world. As keyboard soloist, he recorded concertos by Mozart and Bartók and composed an extensive body of concert works. Dating from 1971, La Fiesta brims with Latin flair. It was presented in an arrangement by Andrew Pushkarev for two cellos, strings and percussion – a version first recorded by the enterprising Kremerata Baltica. The piece proved an enjoyable way to spotlight two of the PSO’s cellists at opposite ends of their careers. Anne Martindale Williams is set to retire next month after a remarkable 50 years with the PSO; Dale Jeong joined in 2024 at the age of 21. It was a vibrant conversation between two generations of cellists, supported by an orchestra that functioned more as a background ‘rhythm section’, only to occasionally interject melodic material.
The banner event of the evening was Lang Lang performing Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Piano Concerto. He has a well-established reputation for theatricality in his performances, very much apparent in his reading of the ‘Emperor’. But given the grandeur of the concerto and the festive spirit of the evening, it perhaps was not entirely out of place here. Grandiose chords in the triumphant key of E-flat major began, answered by the pianist’s virtuoso flourishes across the keyboard. Strings were crisp and horns were warm in the orchestral exposition that followed, echt-Viennese under Honeck’s astute baton.
The impassioned central section of the expansive first movement was effective, even if Lang’s playing was a size too big – and sometimes unnervingly percussive and metallic. The cadenza was introduced at breakneck speed, propelling the movement toward its majestic close. Serving as a polar opposite was the serene Adagio un poco mosso in which a delicate choir of strings introduced the expressive writing for the soloist yet, even here, he landed on some jarring contrasts. In a brilliant transition passage, the movement morphed into the galloping finale, a no-holds-barred romp across the keyboard.
An encore followed, during which the audience got to glimpse – all too briefly – Lang’s poetic side. A lovely miniature, Franz Liszt’s Consolation No.2 in E major made for a touching close to a vibrant evening.
Sam Jacobson