Author Archive for Reference Recordings – Page 2
Midwest Record Reviews Voodoo in the Shadows
The Midwest Record Blog has a rave review for Fiona Boyes and her new Voodoo in the Shadows recording: “A blistering, hot acoustic blues set led by her stinging guitar and sounding like she really lives it voice, Boyes just plain owns it. With youth still on her side, she makes this journey through the southern back roads as authentic as it gets. Maybe even more real than you can take, this is another notch…
Pittsburgh Symphony in the Gramophone Listening Room
Gramophone Magazine’s James Jolly gives praise to the
New From Fiona Boyes: Voodoo in the Shadows
Voodoo in the Shadows Fiona Boyes is Australia’s most successful and celebrated international Blues artist. Her previous Reference Recordings release, Professin’ The Blues, received the 2017 Acoustic Album of the Year award from Blues Blast Magazine. The Blues Foundation in Memphis has honored her with 6 Blues Music Award nominations, including Acoustic Album of the Year and Best Acoustic Artist in 2017. In 2003, she won their International Blues Challenge, representing The Melbourne Blues Appreciation…
Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s “Game Changer” Eroica
Classical Music Sentinel‘s Jean-Yves Duperron reviews Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra‘s recording of Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” & Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1: “ Symphony No. 3, Op. 55 “Eroica” is loaded with quirks, most particularly the Scherzo, with all of its twists and turns, and constantly shifting accents. And lo and behold did I notice when reading the booklet notes that conductor Manfred Honeck points out that rhythm is one of the key factors…
CultureSpot LA Reviews Pittsburgh Symphony’s Revelatory Beethoven and Strauss
Culture Spot LA‘s Henry Schlinger reviews Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra‘s recording of Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” & Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1: “The new release in the Pittsburgh Live! series is a revelatory performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55 by Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. … As he does with every work he performs, [Honeck] has dissected it with surgical precision to massage the…
Pizzicato Gives Supersonic Distinction to Pittsburgh Symphony’s Beethoven and Strauss
Pizzicato Magazine has given its “Supersonic” badge of distinction to the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck‘s Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 and Strauss Horn Concerto No. 1 recording: “With an extremely inventive conducting, Manfred Honeck proves that one can still say something new in Beethoven’s Eroica, even with a modern symphony orchestra. Textually there are fascinating differences from what we are used to. The Funeral march is considered the centre of the symphony, and with Honeck…
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: New Pittsburgh Symphony Recording “Grabs Your Soul”
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a review for the new Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck recording of Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 and Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 with a headline declaring that it “grabs your soul (rewind) and grabs it again.” “Most people have experienced musical recordings that, no matter what genre, demand to be listened to over and over again. These moments hold some sort of power over your soul; you hum and whistle them,…
Shedding A New Light on Eroica
Adrian Quanjer adds a second HRAudio.net review for the new Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck recording of Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” and Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1: “One more ‘Eroica’? Not quite. This is an exceptional account which doesn’t necessarily supplant your cherished favourites, because the reason for wanting to have it is of a completely different nature: This performance sheds an unexpected new light on probably the biggest war horse of all…
Gramophone Magazine Reviews Teach Me Thy Statutes
Gramophone Magazine Reviews the PaTRAM Institute’s new Teach Me Thy Statutes recording in their 2018 Gramophone Awards Issue: “A joint Russian-American choir, drawn from three different ensembles, was assembled for this recording under the auspices of the North American-based PaTRAM Institute. It comprises 21 tenors, nine baritones, seven basses and five profundos…[which] gives it all a fervent feel which certainly suits the spiritual intensity of Chesnokov’s writing. Coupled with Vladimir Gorbik’s well-paced direction capturing the…
Happy Birthday Maestro Honeck!
Reference Recordings would like to wish Maestro Manfred Honeck a Happy 60th birthday today! Friday, September 21, 2018, Maestro Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony will release their eighth recording on our FRESH! From Reference Recordings label, and in honor of his birthday, we’re offering our entire Manfred Honeck catalog of recordings on sale through September 30! So start celebrating, and saving! From The Pittsburgh Symphony Staff and Orchestra: Manfred Honeck on FRESH! From Reference Recordings
The Arts Desk Reviews John Williams At The Movies
The Arts Desk‘s Graham Rickson’s Classical CD Weekly column features a new review for the Dallas Winds and Jerry Junkin’s John Williams At The Movies recording! “The Dallas Winds is a rarity in that it’s a professional wind band, 50 woodwind, brass and percussion players tackling ‘an eclectic blend ranging from marches and Broadway show tunes, to soundtracks and big band standards’. This is an unabashedly popular release, but that’s all the more reason to…
Five Stars for Pittsburgh Symphony’s New Beethoven and Strauss Recording
Graham Williams gives Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony‘s upcoming Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 and Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 release five stars across the board on HRAudio.net! “ Manfred Honeck’s tenure at the helm of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra that began in 2008 has arguably transformed this orchestra from an already first-class one into a great one. … Thanks to the Reference Recordings Fresh! series this transformation can readily be experienced by listeners worldwide…
New Recordings From The Pittsburgh Symphony and Quartet San Francisco
Announcing TWO September 2018 Releases! Beethoven: Symphony No 3 “Eroica”; Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 A QSF Journey Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra chart a new path forward! Reference Recordings proudly presents these two iconic works in definitive interpretations from Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, in superb audiophile sound. This hybrid SACD release was recorded in beautiful and historic Heinz Hall, home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Quartet San Francisco’s eclecticism…
Classical CD Choice Reviews John Williams At The Movies
Classical CD Choice critic Barry Forshaw offers a new review for the Dallas Winds and Jerry Junkin’s new John Williams At The Movies recording: “Like the venerable composers who inspired him (such as Eric Wolfgang Korngold and Bernard Herrmann, who straddled the worlds of Hollywood and the concert hall), John Williams’ writing for strings is one of the glories of his matchless film music — which is what makes this lively and attractive set such…
Michael Cookson Reviews Utah Symphony’s Mahler Symphony No. 8
Critic Michael Cookson offers MusicWeb International‘s second review for Thierry Fischer, the Utah Symphony, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s recording of Mahler: Symphony No. 8. “Any performance of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony ‘Symphony of a Thousand’ is an event, owing to the large orchestral and choral forces plus vocal soloists required to present the work. … The Eighth Symphony is Mahler’s pantheistic vision of life and the universe with which Thierry Fischer here conducts his vast…