A & E

The charms of less-traveled paths will be on display at Heinz Hall this weekend when Gianandrea Noseda takes to the podium for the second of two weeks with the Pittsburgh Symphony.

He has an inquisitive mind and likes to present wonderful music that is neglected for one reason or another.

Noseda and the orchestra will be joined by pianist Benjamin Hochman for concerts Thursday afternoon and Friday and Saturday evenings at Heinz Hall, Downtown. The program consists of the Overture to Gioachino Rossini's opera "La Cenerentola" (Cinderella), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 19 and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 3.

All three composers are extremely well-known, but changing taste in programming at top orchestras accounts for the neglect of the Rossini gem that will open Noseda's concerts.

"Rossini is one of the most popular and loved composers for audiences, yet, in general, I have to say, orchestras have not been playing a lot of his overtures in concert lately. I love the sparkle in his music and the Bonheur -- approaching people with a smile. Enjoying life is in his music," Noseda says. "Everyone knows the story of Cinderella. Rossini doesn't forget that in two hours she will be a princess."

Noseda isn't alone in regarding Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 19 as a masterpiece, but it is overshadowed by several of the composer's other piano concerti -- the two in minor keys, No. 23 and the last one.

So, too, Tchaikovsky's Third Symphony is overshadowed by his later symphonies. In fact, Tchaikovsky's first three symphonies are all neglected in the concert hall despite their charms.

The Third Symphony was written in 1875 and is unusual for being in five movements, one more than had been standard in the 19th century. The extra movement is a second dance movement. After his next symphony, Tchaikovsky wrote four suites for orchestra in which he was free to include whatever delightful music occurred to him without worrying about the weight and importance of the title "symphony."

"I learned No. 3 during my time in St. Petersburg," Noseda says. In 1997, he began a five-year tenure as principal guest conductor of the Mariinsky Theatre, home to the Kirov Opera and Ballet companies.

"At the time, I was not sure about whether it was high-quality," he says. "The playing of the Mariinsky orchestra, this love they showed for the music, seduced me to the point that I started to love the symphony. I consider the slow movement one of the more beautiful pieces he wrote."

Noseda conducted Tchaikovsky's Third Symphony at both orchestral concerts and ballet performances in St. Petersburg.

Although Noseda is music director of the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester, England, and the Teatro Regio opera house in Turin, Italy, he has a very active guest-conducting schedule. When he travels, he is joined by his wife, Lucia. They left their home near Turin in early February and have been to Toronto and Chicago before coming to Pittsburgh.

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