Archive for Review – Page 20
HRAudio Puts “Teach Me Thy Statutes” At The Top of the Pile
Adrian Quanjer adds a second five-star HRAudio.net review for PaTRAM’s new Teach Me Thy Statutes recording: “No matter how many recordings of Russian Orthodox choral music you have, this one should be on top of your pile. Directed, sung and recorded under the best imaginable circumstances, it’s a must for all devotees of Slavonic Orthodox chant. Pavel Chesnokov, choirmaster, conductor, composer, teacher, is perhaps the most prolific Russian choral composer, with around 400 sacred titles,…
Textura Finds Joy in Quotations and Homages
Textura Magazine published a rave new review for Nadia Shpachenko’s Quotations and Homages recording: “Rare, not to mention refreshing, is the classical recording that balances seriousness with humour. Certainly one composer who embodies the principle is Tom Flaherty, whose two pieces bookend the release. Their origins bespeak a scholarly mind at work, but as homages they’re delightfully irreverent, flamboyant even… As irreverent as it might be to root a composition in material by The Velvet…
HRAudio Gives Five Stars to Teach Me Thy Statutes
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for Performance and Sonics (in Stereo and Multichannel) from HRAudio.net for PaTRAM Institute’s new Teach Me Thy Statutes recording: “The recording took place at the Church of Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian at the Saratov Orthodox Theological Seminary, Russia… which supports a clean acoustic ideal for the beautiful Russian monastic style, aiding the singing through its fullness and richness of sonority. The first Orthodox Psalm, “Bless the Lord, O My Soul”, shows just…
Teach Me Thy Statutes is a MusicWeb Recording of the Month!
MusicWeb International critic, Dan Morgan, names PaTRAM’s Teach Me Thy Statutes release a May Recording of the Month! “There are few more thrilling experiences than the sound of Russian sacred music, especially when it’s sung by native choirs. … Teach Me Thy Statutes, the first in a projected series from the Patriarch Tikhon Russian American Music Institute (PaTRAM), features their male choir, directed by Vladimir Gorbik. Given that this ensemble is made up of professional…
New Classic LA is Convinced by Nadia Shpachenko’s Quotations and Homages Recording
New Classic LA critic Steven Niles reviews Nadia Shpachenko’s new Quotations and Homages recording: “In an era marked by emphasis on thematic programming, sometimes it seems the theme counts more than the music, or that the music serves the theme. When all goes well, however, a theme can lend insight and bring pieces together synergistically, where they are better together than apart. The latter is what happens on Nadia Shpachenko‘s new CD, Quotations and Homages.…
Fanfare Says Don’t Miss Nadia Shpachenko’s Quotations and Homages
Fanfare Magazine has a new review for Nadia Shpachenko’s Quotations and Homages recording in their “Not To Be Missed” section: “…a superb and superbly recorded program of pieces as fresh as they are ready to pay respect to the traditions that led to their creation. …framing this set of relative miniatures with the works of Tom Flaherty was a stroke of genius. His integration of electronic and acoustic elements speaks to a long-fostered commitment to…
Five Stars All Around for Arnold Overtures LP
The Audio Beat‘s Mark Blackmore reviews our LP re-issue of Arnold Overtures! “Twenty-five years after releasing the Grammy-nominated Arnold Overtures, Reference Recordings has reissued it as a 180-gram, half-speed-mastered LP, and what an LP it is. Paul Stubblebine, who mastered the original CD, returns to do the remastering for this fine reissue pressed at Quality Record Pressings. … Film buffs know Arnold’s music from his award-winning score for The Bridge on the River Kwai. Audiophiles…
Fanfare Magazine Raves About Utah Symphony’s Mahler Eight
“Well, here is the symphony no one could capture—captured at last? I think so! Every music lover grayer than a few decades will recall how pervasive once was the notion of an “unrecordable piece,” a work destined to mock the best efforts of microphones and loudspeakers of the day. … The Mahler Symphony of a Thousand was a holy grail of sorts, attempted from time to time, but essentially out of reach. … I thought…
The Pittsburgh Symphony has entered a “golden era”
Audiophile Voice magazine reviews Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony‘s GRAMMY®-winning Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio for Strings recording in their latest issue: “The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra appears to have entered another golden era under the leadership of Manfred Honeck and its association with Reference Recordings. … The sound is open and expansive with a realistic sense of place and space. You can hear details that might easily be submerged for concerts goers but…
Copper Magazine Reviews Pittsburgh Symphony’s Shostakovich/Barber
Critic Lawrence Schenbeck offers his top 2017 releases in PSAudio’s Copper Magazine and features Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s new Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio for strings recording: “I’ve grievously neglected the fine work done by Honeck in Pittsburgh, a neglect made more shameful because of Soundmirror’s crucial contribution. Whenever I sit down to hear one of these albums, I am drawn closer to the immediacy of live performance than with any other…
Textura Reviews Utah Symphony’s Mahler Symphony No. 8
Canada’s Textura magazine reviews the Thierry Fischer, Utah Symphony, and Mormon Tabernacle Choir recording of Mahler: Symphony No. 8: “How valuable is this recording? Great indeed, considering how modest in number are those available of the eighth and relatedly how rarely it’s performed. In both cases, the reasons have nothing to do with the work’s artistic merit, which is substantial; it’s simply that performances, whether it be for a live presentation or for a recording,…
Gramophone Reviews the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Shostakovich and Barber Recording
Gramophone Magazine has a new review for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck’s Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber Adagio for Strings recording in the February 2018 issue: “Manfred Honeck seems intent on wringing every last drop of drama from the symphony in this live recording. He seizes upon the first movement’s stark juxtapositions. Rhythms in the jagged opening phrases are razor-sharp and urgently dispatched … then the pace eases as the mood becomes more…
Thierry Fischer Leads Royal Philharmonic in San Francisco
Thierry Fischer impresses The Bay Area Reporter‘s Philip Campbell while leading London’s Royal Philharmonic on a six-concert West Coast tour: “Fischer, who is music director of the Utah Symphony, has shown a personal taste for orchestral richness and dynamic contrasts… His Reference Recordings HDCD of Mahler’s mighty Eighth, with the Utah Symphony and Mormon Tabernacle Choir… proves an overwhelmingly grand and beautiful listening experience. Fischer hasn’t just kept his eye on the past either, commissioning…
Gramophone Reviews Utah Symphony Mahler 8
Thierry Fischer, the Utah Symphony, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir‘s Mahler: Symphony No. 8 recording gets a rave review in Gramophone Magazine: “The Utah Symphony were the first American orchestra to record a complete Mahler cycle. Under Thierry Fischer, Utah’s music director since 2009, they have mounted another Mahler cycle in celebration of the orchestra’s 75th anniversary.…And a lovely thing it is. Thierry Fischer is clearly a Mahlerian to contend with, full of ideas and…
NativeDSD review for Pittsburgh Symphony’s Shostakovich
John Huxhold and Eric Meyer review the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck Shostakovich/Barber recording in the new NativeDSD reviews blog, “Call For Reviewers”: “Manfred Honeck is making a name for himself and his Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for his carefully considered and nuanced approach to the music of Richard Strauss and, in this case, the Shostakovich 5th. The high, quiet strings in the first movement float serenely above a low bass; the second movement is slower…