The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is heading back to New York City's Carnegie Hall next season for the first time in more than three years.

The concert on Feb. 9, 2010, will be the first appearance there for music director Manfred Honeck with the PSO, but both will be somewhat in the shadow of star violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, who will solo in Brahms' Violin Concerto. Also on the program is Mahler's First Symphony, "Titan."

Citing the dire economic situation, Carnegie Hall also announced that next season's schedule will have 180 concerts, in comparison with 200 this season. It has trimmed its current budget by $4 million.

In presenting the PSO as a "Carnegie Hall Classic," the famed mid-town hall made clear the orchestra would not be one of the casualties of those cuts.

-- Andrew Druckenbrod, Post-Gazette classical music critic

First Published: January 22, 2009, 5:00 a.m.