Author Archive for Reference Recordings – Page 15
Gramophone Reviews Florentine Opera’s Prince of Players
Laurence Vittes reviews The Florentine Opera’s World Premiere recording of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players in Gramophone‘s “Sounds of America”: “The full-orchestral version of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players does full justice to the sexual tensions of the historical period it adores… The dramatic impact is heightened by Phares’s unswerving classical line and intense underlying emotion set against Kate Royal’s stunning portrayal of the era’s first female superstar, moving from the music hall to starring…
ArtsFuse Reviews Pittsburgh Symphony’s Tchaikovsky/Leshnoff
ArtsFuse reviews the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck’s recording of Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 and Leshnoff: Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon: “Manfred Honeck is one of that rare breed of artist: a conductor who can draw compelling, electrifying accounts of the standard canon as if on cue. His latest release, which pairs Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 4 with Jonathan Leshnoff’s Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon, manages this feat again. Honeck’s reading is marked by a…
Culture Spot LA Reviews Pittsburgh Tchaikovsky & Leshnoff
Culture Spot LA‘s Henry Schlinger reviews the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck’s recording of Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 and Leshnoff: Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon: “We at Culture Spot are always thrilled to get a new release from Reference Recordings of Manfred Honeck conducting the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the new recording of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 is no exception. One thing we’ve come to expect from Honeck and the PSO is an…
MusicWeb International Recommends Blessed Art Thou Among Women
MusicWeb International’s Marc Rochester has given PaTRAM Institute’s Blessed Art Thou Among Women recording a Recommended distinction! “Bortnyansky’s simple but effective setting of Beneath Thy Compassion gives us a wonderful taste of a fine choir supported by a powerful profundo bass, while a resonant burst of a genuinely Russian-sounding profundo bass (sung by the rather surprisingly named Glenn Miller) opens Zheludkov’s setting of Do Not Lament Me, O Mother. Emerging from the rich, luxuriant textures of the Magnification for the…
Classical Music Sentinel Reviews the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Tchaikovsky & Leshnoff Recording
Classical Music Sentinel reviews the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 & Jonathan Leshnoff Double Concerto recording: “As in his famous ballets, Tchaikovsky’s affinity for irresistible melodies comes to the fore in this symphony’s slow movement, and conductor Honeck and the musicians of the orchestra well project it’s idyllic charm. And as far as thrills are concerned, nothing quite matches this symphony’s final movement. With a momentum more manic than the 1812 Overture it…
The ArtsFuse Reviews Florentine Opera’s Prince of Players
The ArtsFuse‘s Ralph Locke reviews The Florentine Opera’s recording of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players: An Opera in Two Acts: “Ninety-six minutes is short for a two-act opera on a serious subject, but it feels just right in Carlisle Floyd’s thirteenth and latest opera, Prince of Players. The plot zips along, clearly delineated in the sung text and stage directions. … Even better, the composer and the generally fine singing cast sharply differentiate the characters in…
Now Available: “Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 & Leshnoff: Double Concerto” from the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck
Out Now WorldWide! 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 Premiere recording of leading American composer Jonathan Leshnoff’s Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon, featuring the extraordinary talents of the Pittsburgh Symphony’s own Principal Clarinet Michael Rusinek and Principal Bassoon Nancy Goeres. This hybrid SACD release was recorded in beautiful and historic Heinz Hall, home of…
ClassicsToday Reviews Kansas City Symphony’s Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool
Watch a new ClassicsToday video review with David Hurwitz of the Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern’s Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool recording: See the full review on ClassicsToday.com Purchase
Pittsburgh Symphony Release Party on Friday, May 15
This Friday, May 15, at 8pm EDT, the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Friday Night Virtual Concert series, Extraordinary Measures, will feature a sneak peek at their new Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 and Leshnoff: Double Concerto recording! Register to get the Release Party link!
HR Audio Gives Five Stars to Pittsburgh Symphony’s Tchaikovsky/Leshnoff!
HR Audio‘s Graham Williams gives a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review for the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 & Leshnoff: Double Concerto SACD: “any new release from the award-winning team of Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony on the Reference Recordings label is worth investigating as, based on previous form, it is likely to yield a performance that brings new interpretive insights to even the most familiar staples of the classical repertoire. In addition,…
Doug MacLeod Wins 2020 Blues Music Award!
The Blues Music Awards hosted a virtual Blues Music Awards Show and Doug MacLeod was announced as the 2020 Acoustic Artist of the Year! The 2020 Blues Music Award was Doug’s 11th nomination and marks his fourth Blues Music Award in the past 5 years (2018 Acoustic Album of the Year, 2016 & 2017 Acoustic Artist of the Year)! Congratulations to Doug! Watch Doug’s Acceptance Speech from Home: Watch the awards ceremony: Doug MacLeod Recordings…
Orthodox Arts Journal Reviews PaTRAM’s Blessed Art Thou Among Women
The Orthodox Arts Journal reviews the new PaTRAM Institute recording, Blessed Art Thou Among Women: “The repertoire lineup is indeed star-studded. Here the listener will find hymns that are familiar and widely beloved… Throughout the program, there are moments of exquisite choral beauty, punctuated by outstanding solo contributions: by soprano Fotina Naumenko, basso profundo Glenn Miller, baritone Protodeacon Leonid Roschko, and basso profundo Alexis Lukianov, who poignantly intones “Memory eternal” to his late father, Protopresbyter…
PaTRAM’s Kurt Sander: Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in Choral Journal
PaTRAM’s recording of Kurt Sander’s Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom received a three-page feature in the latest issue (Vol 60, No. 9) of the American Choral Directors Association’s Choral Journal: “The Reference Recordings album, most excellently sung by PaTram Institute Singers under the direction of Peter Jermihov, has garnered two 2020 GRAMMY® nominations, and deservedly so. It is a sublime recording, which expertly marries gorgeous choral performance with majestic, inspiring choral composition. … Sanders…
The Audio Beat Reviews the Dallas Winds’ John Williams At the Movies LP
The Dallas Winds and Jerry Junkin’s 180-gram double-LP of John Williams at the Movies gets a 4 & 5-star rating from The Audio Beat: “Since 1976, with the release of Guitar and… featuring guitarist Bunyan Webb in recital accompanied by flute and viola, Reference Recordings has offered the music-loving audiophile an elegant buffet of exceptional recordings of a wide-ranging selection of music. … Now, 43 years after that first release, comes this deluxe two-LP reissue of a…
Limelight Magazine Says Utah’s Prokofiev Ticks Every Box
Australia’s Limelight Magazine gives a 4.5 Star review to the Utah Symphony and Thierry Fischer’s Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky – Lieutenant Kijé Suite recording: “what a witty juxtaposition: Russia’s great medieval nationalist epic contrasted with a cheeky satire on stultifying Tsarist military bureaucracy. … All the participants acquit themselves brilliantly. In the Kijé, the orchestra conveys just the right mixture of piquancy and subversion. The soloists are a delight, especially the fat tubas and the droll sounding…