PSO discs scheduled

A little scoop for you about some of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's recording plans this season (I wrote this report for tomorrow's paper):

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will make at least two new recordings this season from live performances at Heinz Hall.

The orchestra will record Richard Strauss' "An Alpine Symphony" and "Macbeth" on Pentatone for CD release in spring 2009. The conductor again will be Marek Janowski, whose final installment of his Pentatone Brahms symphony cycle is scheduled for release in October. The label also will record a Berlioz disc with Janowski beginning with the composer's "King Lear Overture" this season and adding material to be recorded in 2009-10.

PSO music director Manfred Honeck's CD of Strauss' "Ein Heldenleben," Alan Fletcher's Clarinet Concerto and Verdi's Overture to "La forza del destino" recorded last season on Octavia will be released Sept. 24, available only in Heinz Hall.

-----

I think in particular it was a good idea to record "Macbeth," which has hardly been recorded at all, and isn't widely available on compact disc. In general, it's just great to have the PSO recording again in droves rather than the trickle that was the case in the Jansons years...