Author Archive for Reference Recordings – Page 13
Five Stars for Leshnoff’s Symphony No. 3 and Piano Concerto from HRAudio
HRAudio.net gives the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Stephen Powell, and Joyce Yang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for Performance and Sonics in their recording of Jonathan Leshnoff’s Symphony No. 3 and Piano Concerto: “The opening of the [Piano Concerto’s] four movements presents a majestic (and attractively memorable) theme that is developed with increasing energy and dazzling pianism by soloist and orchestra in the manner of a grand romantic concerto before reaching a humorously abrupt ending. The slow movement…
American Record Guide Reviews Blessed Art Thou Among Women
American Record Guide reviews the PaTRAM Institute’s recording of Blessed Art Thou Among Women in the September/October 2020 Issue: “Depsite the common ethnicity and theme, the music covers so much ground chronologically and stylistically that the program stays interesting. … Rachmaninoff’s ‘Theotokos Ever-Vigilant’ sings out with the lush, spiritually-charged harmonies we know from his Vespers. There’s also a delicate embrace of the Sacred Feminine in ‘All of Creation Rejoices’ by Nikolai Mihailovich Danilin… I don’t…
Jonathan Leshnoff, Michael Stern and Joyce Yang Discuss Leshnoff’s Piano Concerto
As we prepare for The Kansas City Symphony and Joyce Yang’s World Premiere recording of Jonathan Leshnoff’s Piano Concerto, watch a nine-part interview series between Joyce, Jonathan, and conductor Michael Stern about the genesis of the work, the recording, and more: Leshnoff: Symphony No. 3; Piano Concerto 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…
Rafael’s Music Notes Reviews The Kansas City Symphony’s Leshnoff Recording!
The first review is in for the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Stephen Powell, and Joyce Yang’s Leshnoff World Premiere Recordings! “Thanks to various CD’s released by Reference Recordings, I have become an admirer of the music of American composer Jonathan Leshnoff. … The impressive lineup of soloists and the sterling work of the Kansas musicians numbers immense artistic rewards in this treasure of a recording, impeccably engineered and produced by Dirk Sobatka of Soundmirror. ……
Fanfare Reviews Pittsburgh Symphony’s Tchaikovsky & Leshnoff
Fanfare Magazine reviews Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 & Leshnoff Double Concerto recording in the September/October 2020 issue: “Manfred Honeck has a special talent for making recordings. …A Honeck release is a documentarian’s dream. Musicologists will never have to puzzle over what he meant to achieve, as historians still do with storied conductors of the past. I wish more were like him. … Honeck’s take on the Tchaikovsky Fourth Symphony…
The Art Music Lounge Reviews Blues In My Heart
Lynn René Bayley reviews Fiona Boyes’s newly remastered Blues In My Heart release: “it’s a honey of an album. … crisp, clean sound, which helps one appreciate Boyes’ artistry in better detail. … her sense of rhythm sounds perfectly natural, not forced. … Everything has to work together in order for your performances to click as perfectly as hers do. For an ideal example of what I mean, listen to Honey You Can Take My Man. Not…
Cascade Blues Association Reviews Blues In My Heart
The Cascade Blues Association’s Greg Johnson reviews Fiona Boyes’s new Blues In My Heart Remaster: “Since her win at the International Blues Challenge back in 2003, Fiona Boyes has been one of the most noted blues guitarists of our time, with no less than eight nominations for Blues Music Awards, including Traditional Female Artists of the Year. … Fiona is in fine form here in what she self-describes as an acoustic album of fingerpicking ragtime…
Making A Scene Reviews Blues in My Heart
Making A Scene reviews Fiona Boyes’s new 20th Anniversary Edition of Blues in My Heart: “Too often you’ve heard an artist’s records, admired the talent, and looked forward to a live show and/or a meet and greet, only to be disappointed. It’s so refreshing when the complete opposite takes place as it did in Boyes’ case. So, if you haven’t been introduced to her yet, we are taking you all the way back, (Wow! Twenty…
Midwest Record Reviews Blues In My Heart
Midwest Record reviews Fiona Boyes’s 20th Anniversary Edition of Blues In My Heart: “How little we realized 20 years ago that when Boyes arrived fully formed as a white, finger picking gal with the blues that had to have some kind of lineage to Bonnie Raitt and Rory Block that she’d already been paying dues for 15 years in her native Oz. Guess we missed out on her Bonnie in Boston early moments. Catch this…
Fanfare Reviews Prince of Players
Fanfare Magazine’s latest issue features a review of the Florentine Opera’s world premiere recording of Carlisle Floyd: Prince of Players: “The performance is excellent. As Kynaston, baritone Keith Phares sings well, articulates the text clearly, and is very touching in a role that requires a wide dramatic range. Kynaston has a bar fight, two love scenes (one with each gender), and scenes where he portrays a Shakespeare character. Dramatically, Phares seems thoroughly inside the role.…
American Record Guide Reviews Pittsburgh Symphony’s Tchaikovsky & Leshnoff
American Record Guide critic Roger Hecht reviews the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s recording of Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 and Leshnoff: Double Concerto: “Manfred Honeck seems to have a clear, thought out concept of this work. Every phrase, measure, balance, dynamic nuance, coloring, etc. sounds conceived in advance. … The result is a conception executed to the last 16th note by well trained players. … this is an effective and interesting performance, carried off with…
Opera News Reviews Prince of Players
Opera News reviews the Florentine Opera Company’s world premiere recording of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players: “[Keith] Phares shows impressive control over his falsetto, and switches seamlessly between registers. … When Peg finally declares her feelings for Kynaston, it’s a powerful outpouring of feeling, kicking the proceedings to a higher level. It’s the centerpiece passage of the opera, and splendidly sung by [Kate] Royal… The supporting cast is consistently strong, including Alexander Dobson as Betterton,…
MusicWeb International Declares Leshnoff’s Double Concerto “a real find”!
MusicWeb International’s Lee Denham is a new Jonathan Leshnoff fan after hearing the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck recording of his Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon: “The Concerto lasts around 15 minutes and opens with a long, songful Adagio, followed by a short perky waltz, with a busy finale full of good humour. As it began, my attention immediately pricked up at the ear-catching and melodious sounds from the orchestral introduction before the clarinet…
The Train of Change
The song “The Train of Change” was being born around 2007 in Costa da Caparica Portugal, before President Obama was elected. During this European tour I saw hope, love, joy, and a vision of peace just about everywhere I went. President Obama served two terms and this song slowly drifted from my awareness. Then with the killing of George Floyd, I saw America rise up and say ‘Enough Is Enough’! I watched as so many…
Gramophone Reviews Tchaikovsky and Leshnoff
Gramophone Magazine reviews the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s recording of Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 & Leshnoff: Double Concerto in the September 2020 issue: “Manfred Honeck… [in Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4] conveys a strong sense of structural integrity while simultaneously portraying the unfolding drama in vivid colours. … the playing itself is exquisite. In the Scherzo, Honeck is meticulous in his observance of piano and pianissimo markings, while the finale packs a wallop. Indeed, the symphony’s final moments are…