Halfway Through Its 2026 European Tour, Pittsburgh Symphony 
Earns Rave Reviews Across Europe

 

Critics hail the PSO as “one of the world’s finest orchestras” and praise its sound, precision and signature brass

 

WHAT: The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Manfred Honeck have passed the midpoint of the PSO’s 2026 European Tour, and are earning rave reviews across Europe, including at the prestigious Salzburg Festival, and in Warsaw, Merano and Hamburg, where the orchestra opened the 10th-anniversary season of the renowned Elbphilharmonie. The tour is the PSO’s 45th international tour in its 131-year history, and Honeck’s 14th as Music Director. 

 

WHAT EUROPEAN CRITICS ARE SAYING:

• “The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, led by Manfred Honeck, showed why it belongs among the world’s renowned ensembles. Honeck gave the musicians enormous freedom while retaining complete command over the shape and direction of the performance.” — Segregator, Warsaw

• “One of the world’s finest orchestras.” — DOLOMITEN, Merano

• “Between deceptive idealization, mute resignation, flashes of defiance and delicate transcendence, a richly faceted and sharply contrasted picture emerges. Honeck illuminates all of its details and contradictions with extraordinary clarity.” — Salzburger Nachrichten, Salzburg

• “Principal horn William Caballero makes a major impression, playing with assurance and glowing tone even in the highest register. And the string sections sound as though cut from a single piece of cloth, even in the most intricate rhythms.” — Hamburger Abendblatt, Hamburg

• “The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra proved itself to be an impressively precise and at the same time extremely flexible instrument: powerful strings, brilliant brass, characterful woodwinds — but above all, the ability to descend from monumental volume to almost physically palpable silence within just a few bars.” — KULTURA-EXTRA, Salzburg

• “The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, an absolutely top-tier ensemble, only by oversight not belonging to the ‘Big Five’ — though perhaps this lineup should be expanded to the ‘Big Six’ — with a brass section so impressive it would make you kneel.” — Classical Record Library, Warsaw

 

WHAT’S NEXT: The tour continues at the Lucerne Festival with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, 50 years after her public debut in Lucerne, followed by Cologne, Amsterdam, Essen and two closing concerts at Vienna Konzerthaus on September 9 and 10. In Cologne, Amsterdam and Vienna the orchestra will open the regular concert season with special celebrations: in Vienna, PSO musicians will play chamber music throughout the venue following the main performance. The full schedule can be found online.

Alongside the artistic tour, the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance (PRA) and BusinessPA (PA Dept. of Community & Economic Development) are convening business exchange events in Amsterdam, Essen and Vienna under the theme “Where Innovation Meets Culture,” leveraging the PSO’s international presence to strengthen transatlantic business relationships and create new opportunities for investment and collaboration in Western PA. The German American Chamber of Commerce – Pittsburgh supports the Essen and Vienna activations.

 

MEDIA ASSETS: High-resolution performance photos from the tour are available here. Watch the full PSO’s September 1 Elbphilharmonie season-opening performance: YouTube video