Author Archive for Reference Recordings – Page 12
Blues Blast Magazine Strongly Recommends Fiona Boyes’ “Blues In My Heart”
The latest issue of Blues Blast Magazine has a strong recommendation for Fiona Boyes’s Blues in my Heart 20th Anniversary Edition recording: “Fiona Boyes truly stands out from the crowd… With a hard-to-define style that blends everything from Delta and swamp to Chicago blues and more, Fiona exploded onto the world blues scene with the original analog version of this CD, which was self-produced and released on her own label. … The twelfth album in…
Atlanta Audio Society Reviews Kansas City Symphony’s Leshnoff Recording
Phil Muse reviews The Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Stephen Powell, and Joyce Yang’s recording of Leshnoff: Symphony No. 3; Piano Concerto in the Atlanta Audio Society‘s December Newsletter: “Once again, an exploration of the music of American composer Jonathan Leshnoff proves rewarding. … What makes this composer so distinguishable from his contemporaries is easy to divine: it is the concentrated emotion, the lyricism, cohesive construction, and economy of his music. In the last-cited, Leshnoff…
Fanfare Reviews Pittsburgh Symphony’s Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 & Leshnoff Double Concerto
Jerry Dubins reviews the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s recording of Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4; Leshnoff: Double Concerto for clarinet and bassoon in the November/December 2020 issue of Fanfare Magazine: “[Leshnoff’s Double Concerto] is gloriously beautiful and quite possibly a masterpiece, though that judgment will have to be left to time. … If Leshnoff’s aim was to ensure that the bassoon would emerge as the clarinet’s equal, he suceeded admirably. Nancy Goeres huffs and puffs…
Living Blues Reviews Fiona Boyes Blues in My Heart
Living Blues reviews Fiona Boyes’ 20th Anniversary Digitally Remastered release, Blues in my Heart: “One listen, and well, yeah, she’s blues alright, that and then some. There are not enough acoustic blues women, and even less who compose their own songs at her level. She graces the genre with the remastered 20th anniversary edition of her first solo recording, Blues in My Heart. Listeners will appreciate the generous helping of 18 songs on this CD,…
The Arts Fuse Reviews Kansas City Symphony’s Jonathan Leshnoff Symphony No. 3 and Piano Concerto
The Arts Fuse reviews Kansas City Symphony’s recording of Jonathan Leshnoff Symphony No. 3 and Piano Concerto with Stephen Powell and Joyce Yang: “The Concerto’s first movement alternates motoric and lyrical subjects, its constant shifts of phrases and harmonies keeping the ear from ever getting too comfortable. “Neshema,” the slow second movement, offers a beautiful, falling tune that’s gradually embellished. The Scherzo, with its frolicsome keyboard writing and nifty transformations of orchestral textures, charms throughout.…
Textura Reviews Kansas City Symphony’s Leshnoff Symphony No. 3 and Piano Concerto
Textura Magazine reviews Jonathan Leshnoff’s Symhony No. 3 and Piano Concerto recording featuring the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Stephen Powell, and Joyce Yang: “Any classical pianist hearing the concerto would likely salivate at the prospect of performing it. In this iteration, Joyce Yang delivers a riveting performance others would be hard pressed to better. … The opening movement dazzles from the start, with Yang expertly voicing chiming figures over insistent strings and the syncopated…
Pittsburgh Symphony’s Tchaikovsky & Leshnoff is BBC Music Magazine Best of 2020!
BBC Music Magazine’s critics have selected their favorite recordings of 2020 and the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s recording of Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 and Jonathan Leshnoff: Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon is a best orchestral recording! “Tchaikovsky’s Fourth is a work of inspired structural ingenuity, as is clear both from Manfred Honeck’s insightful and extensive notes and this fine recording by the Pittsburgh Symphony on the kind of commanding form older collectors may…
Kansas City Symphony’s Jonathan Leshnoff World Premieres Get 5 Stars from Audiophile Audition
Audiophile Audition‘s Steven Ritter gives ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to Leshnoff: Symphony No. 3 and Piano Concerto recording from the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Stephen Powell, and Joyce Yang: “After reviewing Leshnoff’s Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon recently on another marvelous Reference issue, I was most intrigued to see what was coming next. … Leshnoff writes from the heart, but with a lot of craft and intelligence. Speaking of Samuel Barber, I think he resembles that master somewhat…
Music Notes Review for Blessed Art Thou Among Women
Rafael de Acha’s Music Notes site reviews the PaTRAM Institute’s Blessed Art Thou Among Women recording: “Works by Rachmaninoff along compositions by Gretchaninoff, Tcherepnin, and several other musical artists that lived and worked in the past two or more centuries enrich the CD Blessed Art Thou Among Women, a wonderfully varied collection of devotional texts in praise of the Virgin Mary set to choral music and superbly sung by the PaTRAM Institute Singers, led by Peter…
Carlisle Floyd: Prince of Players Receives Two 2021 GRAMMY® Nominations
The 2021 GRAMMY® Award Nominations were announced today and Reference Recordings releases appeared on four nominations! 2021 GRAMMY® Nominations for RR releases: Best Opera Recording Carlisle Floyd: Prince Of Players — William Boggs, conductor; Keith Phares & Kate Royal; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; Florentine Opera Chorus) Best Contemporary Classical Composition Carlisle Floyd: Prince Of Players — Carlisle Floyd, composer (William Boggs, Kate Royal, Keith Phares, Florentine Opera Chorus & Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra) Producer of the Year, Classical…
Pizzicato Highly Recommends Kansas City Symphony’s Leshnoff World Premieres
Pizzicato gives a four-star rating to Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Stephen Powell, and Joyce Yang’s recording of Jonathan Leshnoff’s Symphony No. 3 and Piano Concerto: “Jonathan Leshnoff’s music needs no explanation, as it speaks for itself and immediately appeals to the listener. Although it is quite complex, it is imaginatively and brilliantly orchestrated and to be remembered with very reflective passages as well as with rhythmic pulsation. … It is again evident in Leshnoff’s four-movement…
Available NOW: Leshnoff Symphony No. 3 & Piano Concerto!
Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony’s Leshnoff World Premiere Recordings are available today! Reference Recordings® proudly presents two new works from leading American composer Jonathan Leshnoff. Distinguished by The New York Times as “a leader of contemporary American lyricism,” Leshnoff is renowned for his music’s striking harmonies, structural complexity, and powerful themes. These world premiere recordings showcase the Kansas City Symphony performing his third symphony, inspired by World War I letters home, with texts sung by baritone Stephen Powell.…
Pittsburgh Symphony’s Tchaikovsky & Leshnoff Recording Nominated for 2021 ICMA
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck’s Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 and Leshnoff: Double Concerto recording has been nominated for the 2021 International Classical Music Awards in the Assorted Programs category! See the full list at icma-info.com Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 & Leshnoff: Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon Reference Recordings® proudly presents Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in an exquisite interpretation from Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. It is coupled with a World…
Classical Voice North America Reviews Kansas City Symphony’s Leshnoff World Premieres
Classical Voice North America reviews the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Stephen Powell, and Joyce Yang’s world premiere recordings of Jonathan Leshnoff’s Symphony No. 3 and Piano Concerto: “The long-lined legato strings that open the symphony immediately bring to mind works like Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings with its tonal modulations and harmonically resolved suspended chords. It is meditative mood music. The winds, including a contrabassoon, briefly create an unusual, dark balance. French horns, trombones, winds doubling…
Classical CD Choice Review for Leshnoff Symphony No. 3 and Piano Concerto
Classical CD Choice reviews the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Stephen Powell, and Joyce Yang recording of Jonathan Leshnoff’s Symphony No. 3 and Piano Concerto: “In typically wide-ranging Reference Recordings sound, here are two of the composer’s most impressive works, and the Third Symphony in particular will be relished by those who admire such 20th-century composers as Vaughan Williams, Walton and Copland. It is music of great authority (inspired by World War I letters home,…