Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 "From the New World" - Simon: Four Black American Dances Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra & Manfred Honeck

• Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904): Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 "From the New World":
• 1 Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 "From the New World": I. Adagio - Allegro molto 12:05
• 2 Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 "From the New World": II. Largo 13:10
• 3 Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 "From the New World": III. Molto vivace 07:42
• 4 Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 "From the New World": IV. Allegro con fuoco 11:22
• Carlos Simon (b. 1986): Four Black American Dances:
• 5 Simon: Four Black American Dances: I. Ring Shout 04:20
• 6 Simon: Four Black American Dances: II. Waltz 03:26
• 7 Simon: Four Black American Dances: III. Tap! 01:44
• 8 Simon: Four Black American Dances: IV. Holy Dance 05:02
• Total Runtime 58:51

Info for Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 "From the New World" - Simon: Four Black American Dances

Reference Recordings® proudly presents Manfred Honeck's masterly interpretation of Antonin Dvorák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, (Op. 95) "From the New World," and the first commercial release of Carlos Simon's Four Black American Dances. This album was recorded live in February 2025 in beautiful and historic Heinz Hall, home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, in superb audiophile sound. Maestro Honeck honors us again with his scholarly and personal music notes, in which he gives us great insight into this most famous of Dvorák's symphonies.

Carlos Simon is the current Composer-in-Residence with the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington, D.C., and holds the position of inaugural Composer Chair of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His music ranges from concert music for large and small ensembles to film scores with influences of jazz, gospel, and neo-romanticism. He was nominated for a 2023 GRAMMY® Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Requiem for the Enslaved, which commemorates the stories of the 272 enslaved men, women, and children sold in 1838 by Georgetown University.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is credited with a rich history of engaging the world's finest conductors and musicians and is deeply committed to the Pittsburgh region and citizens. Since 2008, the Orchestra has been led by Manfred Honeck, its internationally renowned Music Director. The Orchestra has always been at the forefront; championing new works and has a long and illustrious history in the areas of recordings and live radio broadcasts dating back to the 1930s. It has toured frequently both domestically and overseas since 1896. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra continues to be critically acclaimed as one of the world's greatest orchestras.

This release is the 17th in the highly acclaimed Pittsburgh Live! series of releases on the FRESH! imprint from Reference Recordings. This series has received GRAMMY® awards in 2025 and in 2018 as well as numerous GRAMMY® Nominations for other titles in the series. The entire Pittsburgh Live! series is produced, recorded and mastered by the team at Soundmirror, whose outstanding orchestral, solo, opera and chamber recordings have received over 140 GRAMMY® nominations and awards.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Manfred Honeck, conductor

Manfred Honeck
has served as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since the 2008-2009 season. Together with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Honeck's widely celebrated performances and distinctive interpretations continue to receive international recognition. To great acclaim, Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra regularly perform in major music capitals and festivals, among them the BBC Proms, Musikfest Berlin, Lucerne Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Grafenegg Festival, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra have also built a close relationship with the Musikverein in Vienna. Following a week-long residency in 2012, they will return once again for three performances in the course of an extensive tour of Europe in spring 2016.

Honeck's successful work with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has been extensively documented on recordings with the Reference and Exton labels. The first SACD released by Reference Records of Strauss tone poems, drew rave reviews. The second recording, of Dvořák's Symphony No. 8 and the Symphonic Suite from Janáček's opera Jenůfa, conceptualized by Honeck himself, was nominated for a Grammy Award. Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 was released in February 2015 to critical acclaim. The next recording, Beethoven 5 & 7, was released in November 2015. Several recordings, among them Mahler's Symphony No. 4, which won a 2012 International Classical Music Award, are also available on the Japanese label Exton.

As a guest conductor, Honeck has worked with the world's leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and Accademia di Santa Cecilia Rome. In the United States, Honeck has conducted the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra. He is also a regular guest at the Verbier Festival. In 2013, Honeck gave his successful debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, resulting in a CD recording of Dvořák together with Anne-Sophie Mutter for Deutsche Grammophon which received an Echo Klassik award in 2014. The 2015-2016 season sees him return to Bamberg, Stuttgart, Rome, Stockholm and New York, as well as the Munich Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, among others.

Born in Austria, Honeck received his musical training at the Academy of Music in Vienna. Many years of experience as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and at the helm of the Vienna Jeunesse Orchestra have given his conducting a distinctive stamp. Honeck began his career as assistant to Claudio Abbado in Vienna. Subsequently, he was engaged by the Zurich Opera House, where he was bestowed the prestigious European Conductor's Award in 1993. Honeck was one of three main conductors of the MDR Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig and in Oslo, he assumed the post of music director at the Norwegian National Opera and was engaged as principal guest conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. From 2000 to 2006, he was music director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm and, from 2008 to 2011, principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he resumed for another three years at the beginning of the 2013-2014 season.

From 2007 to 2011, Honeck was music director of the Staatsoper Stuttgart where he conducted premieres including Berlioz's Les Troyens, Mozart's Idomeneo, Verdi's Aida, Richard Strauss's Rosenkavalier, Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites and Wagner's Lohengrin and Parsifal, as well as numerous symphonic concerts. His operatic guest appearances include Semperoper Dresden, Komische Oper Berlin, Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Royal Opera of Copenhagen, the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg and the Salzburg Festival.

Honeck has received honorary doctorates from St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania and, most recently, from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Moreover, he has been artistic director of the "International Concerts Wolfegg" in Germany for more than 20 years.

Booklet for Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 "From the New World" - Simon: Four Black American Dances