Archive for Review – Page 36
Film Music Blog Recommends Miraculous Metamorphoses
Thomas Kiefner’s Film Music: The Neglected Art blog has a new review for the Kansas City Symphony’s latest release, Miraculous Metamorphoses: “The Kansas City Symphony which is fast beginning to grow on me performs the suite with all of the necessary emotion. This is a must have for your collection if it has somehow avoided you. … Reference Recordings offer a little bit extra to the listener in terms of clarity, recording (Prof. Johnson), and…
ClassicalNet Says Miraculous Metamorphoses is Christmas in March!
Classical.net‘s Brian Wigman says Miraculous Metamorphoses is like Christmas in March: “Reference Recordings is kind of like the musical equivalent to Santa Claus, in that you realistically don’t know when a nice surprise is going to show up at your door, and you also have no real idea how they did what they did. Hot on the heels of a fabulous Strauss disc with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the label triumphs again with a well-themed, superbly…
ClassicsToday Gives Strauss full 10s!
ClassicsToday gives Pittsburgh Symphony’s Strauss recording a 10/10 in both Artist & Sound Quality! “Recordings like this restore one’s faith in the possibility of true musical greatness. Manfred Honeck conducts this music as do few others today. He’s not afraid to have a good time, nor is he a strict literalist. … For all of their larger-than-life qualities, Honeck remains sensitive to every dynamic nuance, intricacy of balance, and rhythmic quirk. Every one of these…
Portraits of Colorado Reviewed on Film Music Blog
Thomas Kiefner of Film Music: A Neglected Art, has a great review for the Charles Denler Portraits of Colorado recording: “When I opened this one I immediately became intrigued because it was a new composer, a work about Colorado paintings, and performed by the Colorado Symphony. … I can assure you that the sound you’ll hear is melodic, well orchestrated and arranged to make your listening experience easy on the ears. … ‘A Walk in…
Pittsburgh Symphony Strauss named a Gramophone Editor’s Choice!
Gramophone Magazine names the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s new Strauss release an “Editor’s Choice” recording for the new March issue! Not surprisingly, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra play these three masterly symphonic poems with virtuosity, great feeling and a glorious patina of string tone, and the rich hall resonance is well caught by the SACD recording. But what make these performances so outstanding are Manfred Honeck’s interpretations, which vividly bring out the music’s emotional and pictorial detail.…
Fanfare Magazine Reviews Pittsburgh Symphony Strauss
Fanfare Magazine‘s Arthur Lintegen strongly recommends the new Pittsburgh Symphony Strauss release: “This Till is a devilish rogue. Honeck’s frequent changes in tempo and phrasing reflect the different aspects of his character, ranging from funny, to naughty, to malicious. The French horn player has no problems with his treacherous solo. … ‘Death and Transfiguration’ will be special for some listeners … The quiet sections are hauntingly beautiful with some magnificent solo woodwinds, and the turbulent…
La Folia Says It Doesn’t Get Better than the Pittsburgh Symphony Strauss
La Folia with a wonderful rave review of the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Struass SACD: “It really doesn’t get better than this. … From Don Juan’s opening bars, it is impossible not to smile at this recording’s dynamism. In the notes Honeck itemizes a ticking clock, labored breathing, and irregular accents indicating a distorted gait, etc., all of which are astoundingly vivid. …[I] am glad that Till Eulenspiegel closes this program. The twisting clarinet precisely portrays Till’s…
Blu-Ray Definition reviews West of the Sun HRx Download
Blu-rayDefinition.com has a great review for the Joel Fan West of the Sun: Music of the Americas recording as an HRx Download: “…we simply get one of the best, most natural sounding piano recordings that I have ever heard. The image is dead center and the location of treble and bass are revealed as you would hear them in a live concert. This music frequently sings and the piano’s voice, a most difficult one for…
Reviewers are raving about Anton Schwartz’s “Flash Mob”
Last week we announced a new release featuring jazz saxophonist, Anton Schwartz for high-res download. Find out what reviewers are saying about the exciting new Flash Mob recording: “Blazingly hot stuff throughout, Schwartz and company serve up some of the best ensemble playing around and make it sound way too easy. A winner throughout.”– Midwest Record, (Dec 2, 2013) “Impressive and virtually impossible to resist.”– Buffalo News (Dec 20, 2013) “★★★★★… Anton Schwartz is back…
Records International Sees the Pictures in Charles Denler’s “Portraits of Colorado”
Records International sees the pictures being painted by composer, Charles Denler, in the Colorado Symphony Portraits of Colorado recording: “You can almost see the red sunsets, the golden clouds scudding across the Rocky Mountain skies, the icy rivulets running through alpine valleys, the wild horses running in slow motion and smell the high pine forests, such is the pictorial, film-score quality of the 28-minute Portraits…” —Records International Read the full review at RecordsInternational.com Buy Direct…
Looking Back on Respighi Reviews
Now that our Grammy Nominated Respighi recording is available as a Reference Mastercuts LP, we wanted to take a look back at what critics were saying when it was first released! “Oue plays each piece to the hilt; I cannot imagine more precise, more lovingly conducted performances. As for the recording, I’m running out of superlatives – it is brilliant and weighty, with tremendous undistorted dynamics.”–Peter Aczel, THE AUDIO CRITIC “The sound given to this…
Stereophile Names “Strauss” A Record To Die For!
In the February 2014 issue of Stereophile Magazine, Kalman Rubinson names the new Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Strauss SACD, a “Record to Die For.” “From the first note, one hears an immediate and direct instrumental sound, with instruments on a wide, deep soundstage that begins at the speaker plane and extends deeply. … I find this startlingly close to a real concert experience, where the hall acoustics have a more subtle influence and don’t intrude on…
ClassicalEar Gives Five Stars to Strauss
The ClassicalEar iPhone Review App has a new five-star review for our Pittsburgh Symphony Strauss SACD! “This is quite a disc. Manfred Honeck’s live performances from June 2012 bring so much to admire, not least a thrilling electricity, heaps of chutzpah, revelatory detail and sparky temperament… just sit back and marvel at the PSO’s breathtaking sheen, swaggering virtuosity and remarkable composure (fabulous horns throughout). … In short, an exceptionally stimulating and hugely charismatic Strauss anthology.…
CD Choice Reviews Elgar/Vaughan Williams SACD
Barry Forshaw raved about the Kansas City Symphony Elgar/Vaughan Williams recording when it was first released. Now he has a second review of the recording after hearing the new SACD version: “…this writer was so impressed by the performance and sound quality of this cherishable disc in its CD version that I contacted Reference Recordings with my one caveat: that the disc was not afforded the company’s inestimable SACD spruce-up. And here, after some delay,…
Classical CD Choice Reviews Strauss
The UK’s Classical CD Choice has a slew of new reviews in their recent post, “From Rollicking Richard Strauss to Measured Jerry Goldsmith,” including the following review of the new Pittsburgh Symphony Strauss recording by critic, Barry Forshaw: “The mastery of the orchestra which is the hallmark of Richard Strauss’s achievement has been well served by the SACD medium, but this particular combination of three of the composer’s greatest tone poems has not heretofore appeared…