Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Haydn & Symphony No. 1 Marek Janowski & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Variations on a theme by Haydn, Op. 56a "St. Anthony Variations":
• 1 Brahms: Variations on a theme by Haydn, Op. 56a "St. Anthony Variations": Thema, "Chorale St. Antoni". Andante 02:03
• 2 Brahms: Variations on a theme by Haydn, Op. 56a "St. Anthony Variations": Var. I 01:24
• 3 Brahms: Variations on a theme by Haydn, Op. 56a "St. Anthony Variations": Var. II 01:05
• 4 Brahms: Variations on a theme by Haydn, Op. 56a "St. Anthony Variations": Var. III 01:33
• 5 Brahms: Variations on a theme by Haydn, Op. 56a "St. Anthony Variations": Var. IV 01:47
• 6 Brahms: Variations on a theme by Haydn, Op. 56a "St. Anthony Variations": Var. V 00:54
• 7 Brahms: Variations on a theme by Haydn, Op. 56a "St. Anthony Variations": Var. VI 01:11
• 8 Brahms: Variations on a theme by Haydn, Op. 56a "St. Anthony Variations": Var. VII 02:08
• 9 Brahms: Variations on a theme by Haydn, Op. 56a "St. Anthony Variations": Var. VIII 00:59
• 10 Brahms: Variations on a theme by Haydn, Op. 56a "St. Anthony Variations": Finale 03:43
• Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68:
• 11 Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68: I. Un poco sostenuto — Allegro 15:16
• 12 Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68: II. Andante sostenuto 08:36
• 13 Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68: III. Un poco allegretto e grazioso 04:30
• 14 Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68: IV. Adagio — Allegro non troppo, ma con brio 16:13
• Total Runtime 01:01:22

Info for Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Haydn & Symphony No. 1

A live recording from the Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, March 2007.

"Well, rather than mincing my words and having to hold you in suspense while you read the entire paragraph, I’ll cut to the chase and tell you that this has become not only my favourite performance of the Haydn Variations, but I’m having a hard time thinking about any other performance of the Brahms 1st beyond this new Janowski recording.” (Richard Foster, HiFi+magazine)

“PentaTone’s reviting “you”-are-there” recording makes it a winner…If you are looking for a new, uncontroversial, and trustworthy reading of Brahms’s First Symphony in fantastic sound, I can recommend Janowski and Pittsburgh to you with little hesitation.” (Jeery Dubins, Fanfare)

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Marek Janowski, conductor

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
For more than 100 years, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has been an essential part of Pittsburgh’s cultural landscape. The PSO prides itself in artistic excellence, a rich history of the world’s finest conductors and musicians, a strong commitment to the Pittsburgh region, and the cultivation of its family of constituents and households.
The orchestra was founded by the Pittsburgh Arts Society with conductor Frederic Archer in 1895, who brought with him a number of musicians from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and led the PSO in its first concert the following year. Archer left in 1898 and was 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 during these early years, including Edward Elgar and Richard Strauss, but was dissolved in 1910 because of financial difficulties.

Marek Janowski - Conductor
Marek Janowski has been Artistic Director of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin since 2002 and in 2005 he was also appointed Musical Director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva. He is in demand as a guest conductor throughout the world, working on a regular basis in the USA with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (where he holds the Otto Klemperer Guest Conducting Chair), the Boston and San Francisco Symphony orchestras, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and in Europe with the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchester der Tonhalle Zürich, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in Copenhagen and the NDR-Sinfonieorchester Hamburg.
Born in 1939 in Warsaw and educated in Germany, Marek Janowski’s artistic path led him from Assistant positions in Aachen, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Hamburg to his appointment as General Music Director in Freiburg im Breisgau (1973-75) and Dortmund (1975-79). Whilst in Dortmund, his reputation grew rapidly and he became greatly involved in the international opera scene. There is not one world-renowned opera house where he has not been a regular guest since the late '70s, from the Metropolitan Opera New York to the Bayerischer Staatsoper Munich; from Chicago and San Francisco to Hamburg; from Vienna and Berlin to Paris.

Marek Janowski stepped back from the opera scene in the 1990s in order to concentrate on orchestral work and was thus able to continue the great German conducting tradition in the symphonic repertoire. He now enjoys an outstanding reputation amongst the great orchestras of Europe and North America. He is recognised for his ability to create orchestras of international standing as well as for his innovative programmes and for bringing a fresh and individual interpretation to familiar repertoire.
Between 1984 and 2000, as Musical Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Marek Janowski led the orchestra to international fame as the leading orchestra in France. From 1986 to 1990, in addition to his work in France, Janowski held the position of Chief Conductor of the Gürzenich-Orchester in Cologne, and between1997 and 1999 he was also First Guest Conductor of the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. From 2000 to 2005 Janowski served as Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, and from 2001 to 2003 he also held the position of Chief Conductor with the Dresdner Philharmonie.
Marek Janowski has made many recordings over the past 30 years, including many complete operas and symphonic cycles, many of which have been awarded international prizes. To this day, his recording of Richard Wagner’s complete tetralogy The Ring Cycle with the Staatskapelle Dresden (1980-83) remains one of the most distinguished and musically interesting recordings that has been made of this work.

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