COLOGNE -- Typically, the late-Gothic cathedral dominates the mood of this German city, one of the stops on the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Pittsburgh 250 Ambassador tour. But yesterday, the large pre-Lenten Cologne Carnival kicked off, changing the atmosphere, with revelers singing, shouting and drinking. It was a welcome diversion from the rigors of the tour.

One might have thought the festivities were beginning early at the Cologne Philharmonie, where the PSO played Wednesday night. As the musicians walked off stage following their performance of Brahms works under conductor Marek Janowski, they were offered beer -- a year-round tradition unrelated to the carnival that more than a few musicians said they would be happy to re-create in Heinz Hall.

Janowski is not fond of the acoustics of the hall -- he should know, having led Cologne's Gurzenich-Orchester from 1986-90 -- and many members of the PSO agreed, feeling the sound on the stage was too bright and reflective and generally unappealing to their own ears.

I wouldn't know as I was given a seat so close to the stage that all I could really hear was soloist Leonidas Kavakos when Brahms' Violin Concerto was performed. That may have made it nearly impossible to hear how the PSO played, but it was tremendous to be so near to Kavakos. His bow explodes onto the strings with a force and velocity you would think would make for a very sloppy landing, but at the last second, it hits with absolute precision.

In the second half, the PSO played Brahms' Third Symphony and I decided to take advantage of the seating behind the orchestra. If you ever have the chance to visit a hall with wrap-around seating, try it. It is such a fascinating experience seeing the conductor -- what he does and does not offer. But since the sound does not project and blend in these seats, I won't offer a formal review.

Last night, as it continued with its tour, the PSO traveled slightly north to the industrial city of Wuppertal, which happens to be the birthplace of the founder of Bayer and later of its drug of the century, aspirin. It's off the beaten path for most American orchestras, but shouldn't be. The Stadthalle is an elegant neoclassical hall built in 1900 and renovated in 1995. Even with so few American orchestras visiting here and the soloist being the beloved German violinist Julia Fischer (also playing the Brahms concerto), the focus was on Janowski, who was born in Warsaw but grew up in Wuppertal.

His mother had traveled to stay with her parents in Wuppertal when World War II broke out, and Janowski's Polish father was never seen again. Air raids were a constant. "I remember very well once there was another raid announced on the radio and we didn't have time to go to a [bunker], so we remained all together in one room -- my grandparents, my mother and myself -- hugging each other so if the bomb would fall on us we would all [die together]," said Janowski, who planned on visiting his mother's grave here. The family avoided starvation in the postwar years, in part by care packages sent from family members who lived in Wilkinsburg.

Despite Janowski's long career, the 68-year-old has only conducted an orchestra in Wuppertal once before, and he considered it "a special feeling" to be here with the PSO. The town felt similarly, as the mayor and the American consul general spoke before the concert. Janowski also met with 27 of his former classmates in a reception. One, Erika Schubert, reminisced about Janowski. "He was very gifted," she said. "The best in the whole school at the violin."

Fischer was magnificent herself, her full tone radiating out into the warm hall and organizing the music into long lines. This was evident in the tricky transition to the second theme in the opening movement and was lavish in the slow movement, with oboist James Gorton setting the table with an arching solo. There was controlled passion throughout and details to be savored. In an unusual move, she then reappeared in the second half to sit in the first violin section for Brahms' Fourth Symphony.

As if caught up in the special moment, Janowski began the work too reverently and it didn't quite have the driving force of the Amsterdam performance. But the second movement held a lyrical splendor and the rest followed vigorously. The audience demanded and received two encores of Brahms' Hungarian Dances Nos. 1 and 3.