Author Archive for Reference Recordings – Page 16
The Poetry of Places Wins 2020 GRAMMY® Award!
GRAMMY® Winner: Classical Compendium Reference Recordings would like to congratulate Nadia Shpachenko, producers Victor and Marina A. Ledin, and recording engineer Barry Werger-Gottesman on their 2020 GRAMMY® Award for Best Classical Compendium for The Poetry of Places! The Poetry of Places Nadia Shpachenko’s latest Reference Recordings release The Poetry of Places features World Premiere recordings of works for solo piano, for two pianos, percussion, electronics, voice, and toy piano in a fascinating mélange inspired by great architecture…
Pittsburgh’s Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 an Audiophile Sound Album of the Month
Italian magazine, Audiophile Sound, has named the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck’s Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 recording their December 2019 album of the month! “Over the last decade Manfred Honeck has moulded the Pittsburgh Symphony into a world-class band and on this album they give a compelling account of Bruckner’s greatest symphony using the Nowak edition. … The magnificent recording also allows one to hear how Honeck delineates instrumental lines and builds massive, structured…
The Arts Desk Reviews Holst: The Planets
The Arts Desk’s Graham Rickson reviews Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern’s recording of Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool: “Michael Stern’s Kansas City Symphony version is a blast… An audiophile’s delight as well as a musical treat, Stern gets pretty much everything right. You’ll hear things in this recording that you’ll struggle to discern on starrier versions, the marvel being that nothing feels forced or artificially spotlit. There’s a sepulchral brass chorale a few…
Doug MacLeod Nominated for 2020 Blues Music Award
The Blues Foundation announced its 2020 Blues Music Awards Nominees and Reference Recordings is excited to share that Doug MacLeod has been nominated for his 11th Blues Music Award with a 2020 nomination for Acoustic Blues Artist of the Year! Become a Blues Foundation Member and Vote Full Nomine List Doug MacLeod Recordings on Reference
Gramophone Magazine Reviews Kansas City’s Holst: The Planets
Gramophone Magazine started the New Year with a January 2020 review for the Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern’s Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool in the Sounds of America section: “The Kansas City Symphony seize the day, and night, on their new recording under music director Michael Stern. Some performances of The Planets focus more on the score’s colourful surfaces than on its dramatic mysteries and jubilance but Stern’s concept pays close attention to every alluring…
Richmond Symphony’s Bates & Vaughan Williams is an Opera News Critic’s Choice
The Richmond Symphony and Chorus and Steven Smith’s Mason Bates: Children of Adam; Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem recording is a December Opera News Critic’s Choice! “Richmond Symphony’s new album pairs works by prominent contemporary composer Mason Bates and twentieth-century master Ralph Vaughan Williams. Brimming with vitality, the performances of the orchestra and the Richmond Symphony Chorus, led by conductor Steven Smith, deftly reflect the strength of both composers’ choral writing while establishing a connection between…
Pittsburgh and Manfred Honeck Win the Bruckner Society’s Recording of the Year!
The Bruckner Society of America has announced that the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck’s recording of Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 has received their award for Recording of the Year! “this new recording stands out clearly as among the finest we have heard. The Pittsburgh Symphony performs with a palpable level of commitment, which is conveyed with extraordinary clarity by the superb recording. Maestro Honeck’s interpretation of the Symphony is particularly compelling and musically rigorous,…
Pittsburgh Symphony’s Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 a MusicWeb International Recording of the Year
MusicWeb International Critic Nick Barnard names the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 a 2019 Recording of the Year! “Manfred Honeck is a consistently challenging and inspiring conductor. Certainly, his superb Pittsburgh players sound inspired. Deeply considered and superbly rendered this is a performance of visionary magnificence. Backed up by Reference’s state of the art recording.” —Nick Barnard, MusicWeb International See Nick Barnard’s original review from MusicWeb International RR Amazon iTunes Arkiv…
Kansas City Symphony’s Holst is a top Christmas Gift!
The Kansas City Star’s Patrick Neas published his list of “Classical gems sure to bring joy to the holiday season” and The Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern’s Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool is at the top of his gift list! “The performance is as good as any you’re likely to hear, but this recording is a standout for the stunning sound captured by Keith O. ‘Professor’ Johnson, the legendary producer for Reference Recordings.…
Announcing Eleven 2020 GRAMMY® Nominations!
Reference Recordings is excited to announce eleven nominations across eight categories for the 2020 GRAMMY® Awards! The Orchestral Organ 2020 GRAMMY® Award Nominee: Best Immersive Audio Album Keith O. Johnson, immersive audio engineer; Keith O. Johnson, immersive audio mastering engineer; Marina A. Ledin & Victor Ledin, immersive audio producers (Jan Kraybill) Best Classical Instrumental Solo Jan Kraybill Producer of the Year, Classical Marina A. Ledin, Victor Ledin Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 2020 GRAMMY® Award Nominee:…
Pittsburgh Symphony’s Bruckner Symphony No. 9 is Nominated for 2020 Symphonic Music ICMA!
The International Classical Music Awards have nominated the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 recording for a 2020 Symphonic Music Award. The International Classical Music Awards The ICMA – having taken the place of the Cannes Classical Awards (later known as MIDEM) – first awarded prizes in 2011, and has since taken its place as the leading pan-European competition for excellence in classical recording. Its jury of 16 distinguished classical critics and…
Five Star Audiophile Audition Review for Kansas City’s Holst!
Audiophile Audition gives five stars to Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony’s Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool! “The soundstage is magnificent—very wide, and perhaps the deepest recording I have ever heard.… I felt as though I was really hearing the orchestra in its natural estate, and when the oboe solos, it sounds as if it is more distant in the ensemble. Time and time again, the distance factor figured into the listening experience in…
Four Stars for the Richmond Symphony’s Mason Bates and Vaughan Williams Recording
Audiophile Audition critic Steven Ritter gives a Four-Star Review to the Richmond Symphony and Chorus and Steven Smith’s Mason Bates: Children of Adam; Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem recording: “Bates shows a fine grasp of the orchestral idiom, and even more importantly, the choral, with an integrated and highly individual sound that transfers from text to text in a seamlessly smooth manner. Hearing this makes me want to hear more from this young composer, who…
MusicWeb International Recommends Pittsburgh Symphony’s Bruckner Symphony No. 9
The Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck received a “Recommended” distinction from Nick Barnard of MusicWeb International for their Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 recording: “Honeck has restored the Pittsburgh Orchestra to its position as one of America’s very finest ensembles and, alongside the state of the art engineering from Reference, he is creating a library of recordings that will stand the test of the ages. This new recording of Bruckner’s Symphony No.9 is just such a triumph. This…
Textura Reviews the Dallas Winds Asphalt Cocktail
Textura Magazine has a review for the Dallas Winds and Jerry Junkin’s Asphalt Cocktail: The Music of John Mackey recording: “the Dallas Winds and conductor Jerry Junkin present a compelling argument on the composer’s behalf… the release features music of dramatic contrast, from blustery to hushed. Whereas one piece might threaten to bury you under an avalanche of horns, the next stirs you with a poignant melody. … the featured soloist, Christopher Martin, the Principal…