Manfred
Honeck

“Manfred Honeck has that rare ability to make even the most well-worn works sound engagingly fresh…”

Gramophone Magazine
Andrew Farach-Colton, August 2026

Reviews

“Nicht nur, dass [Manfred Honeck] als einer der besten Dirigenten der Welt eng mit seinen Musikern verbunden scheint und die kompletten Fähigkeiten eines Sinfonieorchesters voll ausschöpfen kann: Als guter Kenner des großen Saals der Elbphilharmonie spielt er auch mit dessen akustischen Möglichkeiten. So leise und doch wunderbar klar kann ein Orchester nicht in jedem Haus klingen.”
Die Welt
„Ein Auftakt nach Maß“
(Stefan Grund, 02.09.2026)

“Manfred Honeck has that rare ability to make even the most well-worn works sound engagingly fresh. (...) I'm pleased to report that Honeck has worked his magic yet again with Dvořák's New World Symphony, and as with the most successful of his previous recordings, his interpretative wizardry is largely achieved through a careful and imaginative consideration of a score's details."
Gramophone Magazine
„Orchestral Review: Dvořák: Symphony No. 9;
Simon: Four Black American Dances“
(Andrew Farach-Colton, August 2026)

"Es gibt sie noch, die guten Konzerte. Abende, bei denen ein Orchester unter inspirierter Leitung sein Bestes gibt, Interpretationen, die Klassiker in neuem Licht strahlen lassen. Dazu braucht man allerdings einen Dirigenten vom Format Manfred Honecks. (...) Im Konzert wirkt sein Zugang zur Siebten, der zugleich detailreich und dramaturgisch plausibel ist, schlicht überwältigend."
Süddeutsche Zeitung
"Manfred Honeck vertritt
Joana Mallwitz – und triumphiert"
(Paul Schäufele, 17.04.2026)

"Manfred Honeck has already released Bruckner’s Fourth and Ninth symphonies with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, to widespread acclaim. This new Seventh ups the ante further: it’s undoubtedly one of the best recordings of the symphony in the digital era."
BBC Music Magazine
"Best Classical Music Albums of 2024"
(13.12.2024)

"... an upper-echelon orchestra should have something urgent to say when it takes up familiar music; it shouldn’t simply issue an annual report on its long-standing technical excellence. The Pittsburgh Symphony meets this criterion in its latest release (…). Manfred Honeck, who has led the group since 2008, combines an obsessive attention to detail with a sure grasp of large-scale structures; most important, he coaxes interpretations of unflagging energy and passion."
The New Yorker
“The Pittsburgh Symphony Plays the
Tchaikovsky Fifth, Notable Classical Recordings of 2023”
(22.12.2023)

"Yet this new account is of another stature, as if Honeck’s earlier interpretation were a first draft, and this the finished masterpiece — and make no mistake, it is a masterpiece, a dark psychological thriller that soars and scars and ends up being rather unnerving. (...) But this [Tchaikovsky] Fifth, one of the greatest ever recorded, does make one conclusion inescapable, though it is more of a confirmation by now: There has not been a conductor like Honeck in a long time."
New York Times
“5 Classical Music Albums
You Can Listen to Right Now”
(David Allen, 31.08.2023)

Vita DE Vita EN

Vita

Manfred Honeck has firmly established himself as one of the world’s leading conductors, renowned for his distinctive interpretations that have garnered international acclaim. As Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, where he is now in his 19th season, he continues to shape the Orchestra’s artistic identity with a deep sense of purpose and passion. His tenure, recently extended through the 2032–2033 season, has seen the Orchestra flourish artistically while strengthening its role as a cultural ambassador for the city of Pittsburgh.

Beginning with the 2028–29 season, he will become the seventh Principal Conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, which will serve as his artistic anchor in Europe. Across the Atlantic, he will also take on the role of Festival Director of the San Francisco Symphony, starting that same season with a five-year term to create his own annual, multi-week festival exploring universal elements of the human experience.

Born in Austria, Manfred Honeck completed his musical training at the Academy of Music in Vienna. His many years as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra have had a lasting influence on his work as a conductor. He began his conducting career as an assistant to Claudio Abbado and was subsequently engaged by the Zurich Opera House, where he was awarded the prestigious European Conductor’s Award. Following early posts with the MDR Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, he served as Music Director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm and as Music Director of the Staatsoper Stuttgart.

As a guest conductor, Manfred Honeck works with the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. In the United States, he has conducted all of the nation’s leading orchestras: the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the San Francisco Symphony. He also maintains a distinguished profile as an opera conductor: most recently, he returned to the Salzburg Festival in summer 2026, conducting Ariadne auf Naxos with the Vienna Philharmonic.

In the 2026–27 season, he will commemorate the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death with special programs and a new commission from Jüri Reinvere, to be presented worldwide.

Manfred Honeck holds honorary doctorates from several US universities. In 2026, he received the Julio Kilenyi Medal of Honor in recognition of his distinguished interpretations of Anton Bruckner’s masterworks.