Author Archive for Reference Recordings – Page 22
Blues Blast Magazine Reviews Voodoo In The Shadows
The January 31st issue of Blues Blast Magazine features a grand review for Fiona Boyes’ multiple award-nominated Voodoo In The Shadows recording: “Fiona Boyes is the standard bearer for Australian Blues. A guitarist of unique and distinctive style, she is the spiritual love child of Hubert Sumlin and Ry Cooder. A dramatic and stylized singer, she channels the old school bombast and laissez-faire of Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie with a sprinkling of Wolf grit.…
A QSF Journey In American Record Guide
The January/February 2019 issue of American Record Guide features a review of Quartet San Francisco’s A QSF Journey recording: “The arrangements…by first violinist Jeremy Cohen…[range] From the delightfully optimistic Fiesta that reminds me of Yo-Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer’s Goat Rodeo Sessions album to the morose Tango Carnevale, to Rhapsody in Bluegrass, this album keeps pleasantly surprising us with each song. … This group deserves commendation for bridging the gap between classical and popular music…
Fono Forum Reviews “Phenomenal” Pittsburgh Symphony Beethoven & Strauss Recording
Germany’s Fono Forum critic, Holger Arnold, gives five stars to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck’s GRAMMY®-nominated recording of Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 and Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1: William Caballero, the principal horn player of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, gives the piece an extraordinarily differentiated and colorful interpretation. It is admirable, how he makes some passages appear in a completely new light through dynamic nuances. His brilliant technique and velvety tone are just…
Teach Me Thy Statutes is “Intensely Moving”
The PaTRAM Institute’s Teach Me Thy Statutes recording continues to receive praise in Fanfare Magazine, and even gets shortlisted for a “Want List” Award: “the 15 movements presented on this disc, although selected from different Chesnokov works, form a convincing whole and offer music of extraordinary beauty and depth of feeling, generating a sense of profound exaltation and devotion to something beyond the limitations of one’s own life. Even a non-religious person…can find this glorious…
Voodoo in the Shadows Casts a Seductive Spell
The December 2018 issue of Living Blues reviews Fiona Boyes’ multiple-award-nominated Voodoo In The Shadows recording: “For her latest album, [Fiona Boyes] turns her focus to the Mississippi Delta and New Orleans, and Voodoo in the Shadows delves into the sound, textures and cultures of the region. Boyes serves as her own producer on this collection, and as the album’s title suggests, matters of the spirit are a going concern. … She threads the ode…
Fanfare Reviews The Pittsburgh Symphony’s Vivid and Exciting Eroica
Steven Kruger reviews Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 and Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 recording in the January/February 2019 issue: “Manfred Honeck certainly knows how to make a good record. … [this] new release from Reference Recordings demonstrates again how reliably Honeck supplies us with a vibrant performance and the most interesting liner notes you will read anywhere. … This is the most vivid modern ‘Eroica’ I know… It’s…
Teach Me Thy Statutes is “Exquisitely Beautiful”
Henry Fogel offers a new review for the GRAMMY®-nominated Teach Me Thy Statutes recording from PaTRAM in the January/February 2019 issue of Fanfare Magazine: “this is the first disc I have encountered devoted entirely to [Pavel Chesnokov’s] music. I found it exquisitely beautiful. This kind of music is particularly dependent on performance quality, and Chesnokov has ben fortunate here. … [The PaTRAM Institute Male Choir sings] with a remarkably even blend while still retaining clarity.…
A QSF Journey in Boston Concert Reviews
Boston Concert Reviews is exploring “The Glory of the String Quartet” in a new series on Classical Music Concerts and includes a great review of Quartet San Francisco’s A QSF Journey recording: “A beautiful, spacious recording from this eminent audiophile label and its brilliant recording team, ensnaring all of the sparkle, flair and tactile glory of this intrepid string quartet in flight in their eclectic global program. The arrangements are opulent and colorful. … The…