Manfred Honeck

Conductor Manfred Honeck's conducting career rapidly grew through the 1990s after he learned conducting from the inside as an orchestral musician. He has been the conductor of the <a href="spotify:artist:7oOCHAPJjD7IARb5hrzvw9">Pittsburgh Symphony</a> since 2008 and has instituted a vigorous recording program with that group.

Born September 17, 1958, in Nenzing, Austria, Honeck received his musical training at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna. After graduation, he took a position as a violist with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, making him eligible for membership in the <a href="spotify:artist:003f4bk13c6Q3gAUXv7dGJ">Vienna Philharmonic</a>; that group accepted him. He began working as a conductor with the Vienna Youth Orchestra. In 1987, conductor <a href="spotify:artist:6HclTVD03WSY6GUpN16BkP">Claudio Abbado</a> invited Honeck to assist him in conducting the <a href="spotify:artist:3nalSUqHvdBGqIOjNqpzv9">Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra</a> in Vienna. His breakthrough performance was at the Gustav Mahler Festival in Kassel in 1989, conducting the centenary performance of the world premiere of <a href="spotify:artist:2ANtgfhQkKpsW6EYSDqldz">Mahler</a>'s Symphony No. 1 in D major ("Titan").

Honeck made his operatic debut with the Vienna Volksoper in 1989, leading <a href="spotify:artist:5goS0v24Fc1ydjCKQRwtjM">Johann Strauss Jr</a>.'s Die Fledermaus. Later in the season, he was invited to lead the company in <a href="spotify:artist:4NJhFmfw43RLBLjQvxDuRS">Mozart</a>'s Le Nozze di Figaro and <a href="spotify:artist:0roWUeP7Ac4yK4VN6L2gF4">Rossini</a>'s Il Barbiere di Siviglia. In 1990, he was invited to conduct the gala concert of the <a href="spotify:artist:003f4bk13c6Q3gAUXv7dGJ">Vienna Philharmonic</a> commemorating the 75th anniversary of the dedication of the Wiener Konzerthaus. Other conducting opportunities quickly opened up: he led the Berlin State Orchestra, the Berlin State Opera at the Unter den Linden Theater, and the Hamburg State Opera. At the latter position, he was again standing in <a href="spotify:artist:2ANtgfhQkKpsW6EYSDqldz">Mahler</a>'s footprints when he led the official <a href="spotify:artist:2ANtgfhQkKpsW6EYSDqldz">Mahler</a> production of <a href="spotify:artist:4NJhFmfw43RLBLjQvxDuRS">Mozart</a>'s Così fan tutte. In 1991, Honeck received a five-year contract with the Zürich Opera House as First Kapellmeister. There, he added <a href="spotify:artist:1AoIc5YFH0aSFc4mKqBEeB">Massenet</a>'s Hérodiade and <a href="spotify:artist:2vedxcgUX1uom0dCE4xTTj">Giordano</a>'s operas Fedora and Andrea Chénier to his credits and conducted the first performance of Herbert Willi's Schlafes Bruder. A high point of this early part of his career was his debut at Salzburg, conducting the <a href="spotify:artist:003f4bk13c6Q3gAUXv7dGJ">Vienna Philharmonic</a> during the Mozart Week of 1994.

In 1996, Honeck became the chief conductor of the <a href="spotify:artist:5vv6n5YBVxwtH431Nt23tQ">MDR (Central German Radio) Symphony Orchestra of Leipzig</a>. In 1997, he was appointed music director of the Norwegian National Opera, and in 1998, he was named the principal guest conductor of the <a href="spotify:artist:5cp6B8bMNsXdQKgE6exdzx">Oslo Philharmonic</a>. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he led a variety of ensembles in recordings, including the <a href="spotify:artist:7qs9lBPZgZzLAYAWfHLAll">Bamberg Symphony Orchestra</a> and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra; with the latter, he issued a recording of Allan Pettersson's Symphony No. 12 on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22CPO%22">CPO</a> label in 2006. He was the chief conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra (2000-2006) and music director of the Staatsoper Stuttgart (2007-2011).

In 2008, Honeck began a tenure with the <a href="spotify:artist:7oOCHAPJjD7IARb5hrzvw9">Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra</a> that has been extended through the mid-2020s. With the <a href="spotify:artist:7oOCHAPJjD7IARb5hrzvw9">Pittsburgh Symphony</a>, Honeck has recorded for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Exton+Classics%22">Exton Classics</a> and for the orchestra's in-house <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reference+Recordings%22">Reference Recordings</a> label. He has continued to specialize in late Romantic repertory, recording several <a href="spotify:artist:2ANtgfhQkKpsW6EYSDqldz">Mahler</a> symphonies, Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reference%22">Reference</a> in 2015, and suites from Richard Strauss' Elektra and Der Rosenkavalier for the same label the following year. In 2017, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reference+Recordings%22">Reference Recordings</a> released the Honeck/<a href="spotify:artist:7oOCHAPJjD7IARb5hrzvw9">Pittsburgh</a> recording of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47, powerfully coupled with <a href="spotify:artist:4XDJurjQCnWLlE7KLZCT9x">Barber</a>'s Adagio for Strings. Honeck's 2019 album Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 with the <a href="spotify:artist:7oOCHAPJjD7IARb5hrzvw9">Pittsburgh Symphony</a> was nominated for a Grammy Award. Honeck and the orchestra remained busy through the COVID-19 pandemic, issuing recordings of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 in 2021 and Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 ("Pastoral"), in 2022 on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reference+Recordings%22">Reference Recordings</a>, among other works. ~ James Manheim, Rovi