Author Archive for Reference Recordings – Page 17
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…
Classical Candor Reviews Kansas City’s Holst: The Planets SACD
Classical Candor‘s John J. Puccio reviews The Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern’s new Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool on SACD: “You can be sure with Keith Johnson’s Reference Recordings, for example, that an orchestra sounds the way a real orchestra would sound in a real concert hall. That’s certainly the case with this recording of the Kansas City Symphony, under the direction of its longtime Music Director Michael Stern, and made in Helzberg…
Five Stars For The Hermitage Piano Trio’s Rachmaninoff from The Absolute Sound
The Absolute Sound Magazine’s Andrew Quint gives a Five-Star Music & Sonics rating for The Hermitage Piano Trio’s Rachmaninoff recording: “It was my privilege to attend a day-long recording session for this Rachmaninoff program at Mechanics Hall in Worchester, Massachusetts. (See “Magic at Mechanics” in Issue 279.) Given the artists, repertoire, venue, and production team, I expected a good result. But I couldn’t have predicted what Reference has delivered with the final product. … The…
Arizona Daily Star Features Christmas With True Concord!
The Arizona Daily Star published a feature for True Concord Voices and Orchestra’s Christmas With True Concord recording! “True Concord knows how to do Christmas. With lush exquisite voices and sublime soulfully American interpretations, they take you beyond the cliche of “Jingle Bells” and “O Holy Night” to a singular somberly opening Mack Wilberg’s arrangement of “Away in a Manger.” The women’s voices, sans vibrato, deliciously replicate the sound of a children’s choir as the…
Christmas With True Concord is Out Now!
True Concord Voices & Orchestra Present Holiday Musical Treasures, Newly Imagined! Eric Holtan, founder and conductor of True Concord Voices and Orchestra states: “Every December, True Concord presents its popular Lessons and Carols by Candlelight concerts in the Tucson area. Unique in the local milieu of seasonal offerings, the focus is on sacred Christmas carols. Even in their simplest form, carols evoke emotionally powerful memories of personal and family experiences that enrich and enliven annual holiday celebrations. With this…
Eric Holtan Talks Christmas With True Concord on KVOI Tucson
Eric Holton joined the Bill Buckmaster Show on 1030 KVOI AM Radio in Tucson, Arizona this week to talk about Christmas With True Concord: Carols in the American Voice. Listen to the interview below and see the full episode from the Buckmaster Podcast at buckmastershow.com.
The Choral Stream Reviews Christmas With True Concord!
The Choral Stream‘s Brian Newhouse took a pre-release listen to Eric Holtan and True Concord Voices & Orchestra’s Christmas With True Concord: Carols in the American Voice: “They sure named the choir right. If you’ve never heard of them, and you celebrate Christmas, treat yourself. “Christmas with True Concord: Carols in the American Voice” spotlights an ensemble with a remarkable blend across all its voices. True concord indeed. Hold-your-breath moments? Several. The luminous solo soprano…
Utah Symphony’s Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky – Lieutenant Kijé Suite is Out NOW!
Reference Recordings is proud to present the Utah Symphony conducted by Thierry Fischer, in grand new performances of Alexander Nevsky and the Lieutenant Kijé Suite, two of Prokofiev’s most brilliant and dramatic musical works. The music of Lieutenant Kijé was originally written as the score to the film of the same name, released in March 1934. It was Prokofiev’s first film music and his first commission. Prokofiev soon adapted it into the five-movement Lieutenant Kijé Suite, first performed in December 1934, and…