The New York Times has released its “25 Best Classical Music Tracks of 2018” and the GRAMMY-nominated Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck recording of Beethoven’s “Funeral March” from Symphony No. 3 made the list! “The most interesting and innovative Beethoven recording since these forces set down the Fifth and Seventh, this intense “Eroica” nods in the direction of tradition but sounds completely new, rethought from the ground up.” —David Allen, The New York Times See the…
Reference Recordings is excited to announce five GRAMMY® Nominations for the 2019 GRAMMY® Awards! John Williams At The Movies Best Engineered, Classical & Best Classical Compendium John Williams is a game changer. Early in his career he crossed the lines between music that was “art” and music that was “commercial,” and never looked back. He is one of the best known, most awarded and most successful composers in US history, and his name is inextricably…
The PaTRAM Institute’s Teach Me Thy Statutes recording has been named the 2018 MusicWeb International Recording of the Year! “In this twelve month period, we published more than 2400 reviews. There is no easy or entirely satisfactory way of choosing one above all others as our Recording of the Year, but this year the choice was a little easier than usual. … none stood as deserving of this accolade as much as the choral works of…
Manfred Honeck joined YourClassical‘s New Classical Tracks® program to talk about his new recording of Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 and Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 with the Pittsburgh Symphony. The recording is the featured CD of the week on New Classical Tracks, which means you have a chance to win the recording! “Because I was a member of the Vienna Philharmonic as a viola player, I could watch all of the best conductors in the…
Culture Spot LA‘s Henry Schlinger has a new review for Quartet San Francisco’s new recording, A QSF Journey: “The new CD on Reference Recordings by the Quartet San Francisco (QSF), A QSF Journey, is a wonderful addition to the string quartet catalogue. The CD contains 12 tracks, many of which were either composed or arranged by the quartet’s founder and first violinist Jeremy Cohen and played to perfection by the quartet whose other members include…
Fiona Boyes follows up her 2017 Music Victoria Award for Professin’ The Blues with a “Best Blues Album” nomination for her new Voodoo in the Shadows recording! Australia’s largest publicly voted music awards The Age Music Victoria Awards is back for its 13th year in 2018. Boasting a massive night of live music and accolades, the 2018 Awards will take place on Wednesday 21 November during Melbourne Music Week. The “Best Blues Album” is an…
Gramophone Magazine’s James Jolly gives praise to the
The Arts Desk‘s Graham Rickson’s Classical CD Weekly column features a new review for the Dallas Winds and Jerry Junkin’s John Williams At The Movies recording! “The Dallas Winds is a rarity in that it’s a professional wind band, 50 woodwind, brass and percussion players tackling ‘an eclectic blend ranging from marches and Broadway show tunes, to soundtracks and big band standards’. This is an unabashedly popular release, but that’s all the more reason to…
Announcing TWO September 2018 Releases! Beethoven: Symphony No 3 “Eroica”; Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 A QSF Journey Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra chart a new path forward! Reference Recordings proudly presents these two iconic works in definitive interpretations from Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, in superb audiophile sound. This hybrid SACD release was recorded in beautiful and historic Heinz Hall, home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Quartet San Francisco’s eclecticism…
This September (2018), Quartet San Francisco will make their RR Debut with “A QSF Journey”. The ensemble was founded in 2001 by violinist and composer Jeremy Cohen. Get to know Jeremy in the below interview:
Doug MacLeod’s Blues Music Award-winning Break The Chain recording is now available as a 45rpm, two-LP set pressed by Quality Record Pressings on 180-gram Vinyl, with half-speed mastering by Paul Stubblebine! In this release, his third album for Reference Recordings, Doug MacLeod continues to explore the breadth and depth of the human condition. Recorded by Reference’s Grammy-winning engineer ‘Prof.’ Keith O. Johnson at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, California, Break The Chain has twelve new…
We are very pleased to present our first release in a new series from the PaTRAM Institute. The music performed on this recording of Orthodox choral music in the Slavonic language was written by famed Russian composer Pavel Chesnokov (1877-1944). Teach me Thy Statutes is performed by the PaTRAM Institute Male Choir, a highly professional group which is a collaboration of Russian and American singers. The male choir is considered by many to be the…
Nadia Shpachenko World Premieres Nadia Shpachenko’s latest Reference Recordings release Quotations & Homages features World Premiere recordings of works for solo piano, for piano and electronics, for speaking pianist, for piano with extended techniques, and collaborative works for 6 pianists (performed with Ray-Kallay Duo, HOCKET and Genevieve Feiwen Lee) inspired by a variety of earlier composers and works. These fascinating new pieces come from eight notable modern composers: Tom Flaherty, Missy Mazzoli, Vera Ivanova, James…
Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s “Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber Adagio” recording wins TWO 2018 GRAMMY® Awards for Best Orchestral Performance AND Best Engineered, Classical! Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Manfred Honeck, Music Director Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 and Barber Adagio for Strings Order Now Reference Recordings proudly presents these two beloved works in definitive interpretations from Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, in superb audiophile sound. This release is the seventh in the…
The 39th Annual Blues Music Awards nominees were announced this morning (January 9, 2017) in Memphis, TN and Reference Recordings artists and albums have combined for THREE nominations! 39th Blues Music Award Nominees Acoustic Album of the Year: Break the Chain Acoustic Artist of the Year: Doug MacLeod Instrumentalist-Drums: Jimi Bott Vote Now Full Nominee Press Release Order Now Break The Chain In this release, his third album for Reference Recordings, Doug MacLeod continues to…