Archive for Review – Page 42
Firebrand Magazine with an Early Review for Doug MacLeod’s There’s A Time
Firebrand Magazine has an early rave for Doug MacLeod’s new Reference Recordings release There’s A Time: “This is the blues in its most basic form, laid bare, and not updated, or dragged into this century by any means…I found myself being transported away on some invisible blue mist, to places I’d not visited before too often…this album is a showcase for just how beautiful a well played acoustic guitar can sound…you can’t say you’re a…
Classical CD Choice With Two Reviews of new Kansas City Symphony Elgar/Vaughan Williams Recording
Barry Forshaw and Graham Williams of the UK’s Classical CD Choice both have rave reviews of our latest Kansas City Symphony Elgar/Vaughan Williams recording: “History might be said to repeat itself in these utterly splendid American performances of Elgar and Vaughan Williams, with Michael Stern adopting an utterly persuasive approach to this music, stressing (if anything) its internationalism. What makes the disc particularly cherishable is the typically luxurious 24-bit sound quality afforded by Prof Johnson,…
ClassicsToday Highly Recommends New Kansas City Symphony Recording
ClassicsToday rates our latest Kansas City Symphony Elgar/Vaughan Williams recording a 9/10 for Artistic Quality and a 10/10 for Sound Quality, while highly recommending the recording even if you have multiple recordings of the repertoire: “Michael Stern and his Kansas City Symphony take to the music as if to the manner born. The Wasps, here given as the complete suite and not just the overture, is delightful. “The finale is extremely impressive, aided by state-of-the-art…
ClassicFM raves about our new Kansas City Symphony Recording
The raves keep coming for our new Kansas City Symphony Elgar/Vaughan Williams recording — this time from ClassicFM.com. “Fans of these two key players in the British music sphere will not be disappointed. Every nuance of Elgar’s very particular dynamic markings is captured in this recording from the Kansas City Symphony, conducted by Michael Stern. The strings’ shimmering vibrato, too, brings Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on ‘Greensleeves’ to life, with an orchestral sound so crisp that…
Audiophile Audition Rates Elgar/Vaughan Williams Five Stars!
Audiophile Audition has given our new Kansas City Symphony release a Five Star rating! Take a look at some quotes from the review: “fine British music of the most colorful sort on top, with superb performances. “The conductor here is the son of famed violinist Isaac Stern, and he has his Kansas City forces in top mettle with a rich and detailed performance of the full-length 20 Enigma variations.” — John Sunier, Audiophile Audition Read…
Classical Candor with High Praise for New Kansas City Symphony Elgar/Vaughan Williams CD
Critic, John J. Puccio offers high praise on his Classical Candor blog for our latest Kansas City Symphony recording: “Although one can certainly find a multitude of other available recordings of these pieces, few of them combine the expert performances and audiophile sound we find here. “The Wasps…Maestro Michael Stern and his Kansas City Symphony play with high good spirits. It’s fun stuff, especially the overture, which begins with sounds of a swarm of wasps.…
HP Soundings Raves about New Elgar/Vaughan Williams Recording
The new site from Harry Pearson, HP Soundings has quite the rave for our new Kansas City Symphony recording: “…an elegantly played and most sensitively conducted Elgar, perhaps the best on record yet, and certainly, to these ears, the most moving. “…gorgeous playing and delicately wrought dynamic contrasts – reminiscent of the best analog sound from Reference Recordings. “Do not, I mean this absolutely, let this one pass you by. It is a treat at…
What Others Are Saying About Istomin Mozart Piano Concertos
After the release of Eugene Istomin’s wonderful recording of Mozart’s Piano Concertos Nos. 21 and 24 on LP, we’re taking a look back at what Amazon customers have said about other formats of this recording: “historic great recordings of Mozart’s C major (No. 21) and C minor (No. 24) readings…invaluable – and what better way to commemorate the late maestro Istomin’s 70th birthday in 1996 than to record them on state of the art HDCD…
Early Reviews for New Kansas City Symphony Release
Early Reviews for the Newest Kansas City Symphony recording are in – and we’ve got some raves! From Puggingham Palace: “What makes this release an event is that a “provincial” US orchestra is daring to record standard repertoire in glorious sound, challenging many classic recordings with ease… Michael Stern leads the Kansas City Symphony in a sumptuously recorded and generous all English program. “Since the recorded competition (for “The Wasps”) is small but mighty (Boult,…
Stereophile Reviews Horns for the Holidays
Stereophile.com‘s Jason Victor Serinus has a wonderful review on Dallas Wind Symphony release Horns for the Holidays, and even includes an interview with Keith O. Johnson! “As you can well imagine, Johnson, who has something like nine Grammy nominations for Engineering and one Grammy Award for Best Surround Recording to his credit, takes full advantage of this opportunity to show what Reference Recordings can do. Even heard without the advantage of Johnson’s HDCD decoding, Horns…
The Audio Beat gives Horns for the Holidays the Highest Praise
The Audio Beat‘s John Crossett weighs in on new Dallas Wind Symphony release Horns for the Holidays, and his end quote is about all the endorsement one should need: “This is a special recording on a number of different levels… the arrangements of these familiar tunes veer just far enough away from tradition to keep listeners engaged. You’ll always recognize the melody, but in an almost jazz-inspired way. Junkin and the Dallas group take this…
Horns for the Holidays makes Inner Fidelity Gift Guide
Inner Fidelity‘s John Grandberg recommends new Dallas Wind Symphony release Horns for the Holidays in his new 2012 Holiday Gift Guide: “There must be countless albums full of Christmas music out there, with more coming every year. Unfortunately, much of it is poor in both musical quality and content. Not so with the latest from the Dallas Wind Symphony, courtesy of the aptly-named Reference Recordings. This brilliant album is full of Christmas music that you’ll…
ClassicsToday Raves about new Horns for the Holidays CD
ClassicsToday.com reviewer David Vernier gives new Dallas Wind Symphony release Horns for the Holidays a 9/10 for artistic quality and a 10/10 in Sound Quality in his rave review “A Merry, Windy Christmas.” “If you are a lover of Christmas music—carols, popular songs, and all manner of medleys and clever arrangements of such—and you miss this extraordinary recording by the first-rate Dallas Wind Symphony, then your holiday listening stands to be just a bit more…
Audiophile Audition Gives Five Stars to Playing With Fire
Audiophile Audition‘s John Sunier gives new Dallas Wind Symphony release Playing With Fire Five Stars! “Playing With Fire is not only the title selection here but the main interest… The fact that the Jim Cullum Jazz Band is basically a trad jazz ensemble makes this one a bit different, and actually seems to make the mix of the classical and jazz approaches to blend a little more smoothly. … The other four works illustrate the…
Audiophile Audition reviews Exotic Dances from the Opera LP
“The sonics are rich and full, with the added ‘air’ around the orchestra’s sections as heard with the best vinyl recordings.” — John Sunier, Audiophile Audition Above is the ending of a new Audiophile Audition rave for our latest LP release – Exotic Dances from the Opera. In the review, Sunier raves about the “sensitive phrasing and generally great pizazz” of the Minnesota Orchestra. He also raves about the repertoire itself, calling the release “an…