Strauss and Tchaikovsky

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is back at Heinz Hall on Saturday, November 28, for a holiday concert titled Strauss and Tchaikovsky. It's a late-November program, so it sits right at the start of the holiday season, and the title gives you the two composers that anchor the evening.

Manfred Honeck is on the podium, and the big draw here is Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, with pianist Denis Malofeev taking the solo. If you've ever heard that concerto on a recording, you know it's one of the most recognizable pieces in the repertoire—it opens with those sweeping chords and a melody that most people recognize even if they've never stepped foot in a concert hall. It's a massive work for piano and orchestra, and hearing it live in the room is a different thing entirely from listening to it through speakers.

The other half of the program belongs to Strauss, and together they make for a full evening of Romantic-era music. Honeck has been leading the PSO for years now, and this is a program that plays to the orchestra's strengths—big, lush sounds and a lot of ground to cover. Between the two, you're getting a good look at two of the most famous names in the classical canon in a single sitting.

It's a Saturday night show, so it's an easy one to build a whole evening around. You can find tickets and the full schedule over at pittsburghsymphony.org/calendar.