The InfoDad team gives their highest rating to the Richmond Symphony and Richmond Symphony Chorus’s Bates: Children of Adam; Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem recording in a new review: “The elegant orchestration and skillful use of voices make [Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacem] a very moving work when it is well performed, as it is on a new Reference Recordings disc featuring the Richmond Symphony Chorus and Richmond Symphony conducted by Steven Smith. Soloists Michelle Areyzaga…
Audiophile Audition’s Steven Ritter gives Five Stars to Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 recording: “Ah, to live in Pittsburgh these days! … And why, you say? Because the Pittsburgh Symphony is sounding as good as any orchestra in the country, and Manfred Honeck’s direction stamps an indelible seal on so many masterworks once thought virtually untouchable. … a balanced, dramatic, powerfully reliable attention to the score is coupled with what…
Henry Schlinger reviews Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 recording for Culture Spot LA: “Manfred Honeck, the music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, can apparently read my mind and has been doing so for some time now. He seems to know what I want him and the PSO to record on the spectacular Fresh Series from Reference Recordings. … [Honeck] has a seemingly intuitive knack for pulling back on the…
The family review site, InfoDad reviews Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 recording and finds it “revelatory”: “Even music that is familiar and has frequently been recorded can sometimes come across as fresh and new when performances are sufficiently revelatory – as is Manfred Honeck’s of Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Not since the days of William Steinberg has this orchestra sounded so warm, full, and emotionally evocative…
The September/October 2019 issue of American Record Guide features a new review for the PaTRAM Institute‘s recording of Kurt Sander’s Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom: “Most of the music falls into one of two categories: brief choral responses to chanted declamation by the priest or deacon, and more extended choral pieces like the Cherubic Hymn and the Lord’s Prayer. In his notes, Sander observes that most composers would begin by writing the more extended…
The Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 recording gets a review in MundoClasico: “Furthermore, the Pittsburgh Symphony surrenders itself without compromise. Although this recording is not as widely broadcast as one would desire, it is, in my opinion, an interpretation that must be taken very seriously by anyone worthy of being a Brucknerite. And it is, of course–until now, and as far as I know– Honeck’s best discographic work in Pittsburgh.” —Alfredo López-Vivié…
“Now based out of the United States, the ensemble has just released their debut CD for Reference Recordings, a beautifully performed and recorded capture at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts of some of the most intricate and dynamic works of the celebrated late Romantic-era Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943). … And, like the finest Western art musicians of today, the trio here handles all of this (and more) with ease, expressively and flawlessly traversing the…
Barry Forshaw reviews the Hermitage Piano Trio’s new Rachmaninoff recording for Classical CD Choice: “This absolutely unmissable disc performs a valuable service in providing the first SACD performances of his exquisite piano trios. The Hermitage Piano Trio has the full measure of this vivid and colourful music, chamber works which are not afraid to wear their heart on their sleeve – but never in a forced, sentimental manner. In fact, it is the muscle and…
The Richmond Symphony and Richmond Symphony Chorus’s Bates: Children of Adam; Vaughan-Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem recording gets a four-star rating from Remy Franck’s Pizzicato Magazine: “The work is eventful in its orchestration and varied in its moods… [and] musically rich… here spiritual and sensual, there reflective, sometimes also solemn. In contrast to the very colorful and complex orchestral part, the choral part is rooted in the chorale and hymn… [an] exciting live recording.” —Remy Franck,…
The Wall Street Journal has a new review and feature for Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s new Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 recording! “Conductor Manfred Honeck has become one of today’s most insightful interpreters of the classics. A regular presence on the world’s most prestigious orchestra podiums, the Austrian maestro has been music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for more than a decade, where he has made valuable additions to its discography. … Their…
Jean-Yves Duperron reviews Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra‘s Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 recording in Classical Music Sentinel: “As if a call from the beyond, the magnificent horns of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra infuse a profound sense of eerie and yet powerful stillness within the opening pages. … this account is highly gripping. … a Bruckner symphony is ‘absolute’ music. You can’t evince a different outcome from a harmonic progression or a sequence of chords. It’s sound…
Remy Frank’s Pizzicato Magazine gives four stars to the Dallas Winds’ new Asphalt Cocktail: The Music of John Mackey recording! “The performances by the Dallas Winds under Jerry Junkin are absolutely great, energetic in the fast works, wonderfully lyrical and atmospheric in the quieter pieces. The recorded sound is crystal-clear and reinforces the positive impression of this production which should satisfy every lover of brass music.” —Remy Franck, Pizzicato See the full review on Pizzicato.lu
Writer Nelson Brill has two new reviews of our recordings from The Hermitage Piano Trio and the Concord Chamber Music Society recorded at Mechanics Hall: “here we have the deep, soulful meditations of Rachmaninoff played with elemental and unflinching power by the Hermitage. For instance, the final movement to Rachmaninoff’s Trio Elegiaque no. 2 is a searing example of how violinist Misha Keylin, cellist Sergey Antonov and pianist Ilya Kazantsev combine into one intense vehicle to reveal…
HRAudio.net gives Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony a five-star rating for both performance and multi-channel sonics on their new Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 recording! “each new issue in [the] Fresh! series is an event worth its weight in gold. … Listening to such a wonderful orchestra, led by someone with a clear, albeit very personal vision, words fall indeed short to express the deeply emotional experience. What makes Honeck’s rendition so significant? His ‘special…
Anne Goldberg-Baldwin reviews Nadia Shpachenko‘s The Poetry of Places on I Care If You Listen: “An album of solo and duo piano, electronics, and percussion, The Poetry of Places is a superb assemblage of works by various composers. Each piece, inspired by a particular building, weaves together a collage of place and time, and Shpachenko’s evocative interpretations bring insight to the composers’ visions… One of the highlights of The Poetry of Places is Hannah Lash’s Give me your Songs, a multifaceted…