Order Now Fiona Boyes Professin’ The Blues gets a four-star review in the January 2017 issue of Downbeat Magazine: “Fiona Boyes’… voice is a subtly remarkable instrument, combining her natural understanding of country blues with a finely judged sense of drama to produce music of emotional breadth. With offhand ease, she makes her acoustic, metal-body resonator and cigar-box guitars spring forward as commentators on cheating, rootlessness and other topics broached in the lyrics to 14…
Order Now Australia’s Daily Examiner has a fantastic new interview with Fiona Boyes about her latest recording, Professin’ The Blues: “Fiona Boyes is new to the Clarence Valley, but she isn’t new to the world of blues. Her tenth album under her name, Professin’ The Blues, is a showcase of acoustic blues that was recorded in Skywalker Sound studios live, in real-time with no overdubs or effects by legendary audiophile producer the ‘Professor’ Keith O…
January 8, 2017 will feature a series of performances around the world in honour of what would have been David Bowie’s 70th Birthday. The “Celebrating David Bowie” event in London will be led by Gary Oldman and former David Bowie band members, including RR artist Mike Garson!More information is available on TheGuardian.com Mike Garson in the notes for his RR recording The Bowie Variations: “When I met David, I sensed that he was an immense…
Fiona Boyes plays “Love Changing Blues” from her new Professin’ The Blues recording on Blues Radio International: Professin’ The Blues Fiona Boyes “…our heroine perpetuates the blues legacy with a brave attitude and amazing conviction.” —Vicente Zumel, La Hora Del Blues RR.com Amazon iTunes/Apple Music Spotify Professin’ The Blues proclaims Fiona Boyes passion for the Blues as she celebrates the unique contribution of recording and mastering engineer ‘Professor’ Keith O. Johnson, Reference Recording’s Technical Director…
Order Now The UK’s Independent Blues Broadcasters Association has selected Fiona Boyes’ Professin’ The Blues as a December Pick of the month! This means it will be featured on member stations in the UK and Worldwide throughout the month. Professin’ The Blues debuted at #37 on the IBBA airplay charts in September and moved up to #22 in October. So make sure to tune in to your independent blues stations next month; chances are, you’ll…
Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Tchaikovsky/Dvořák recording has been nominated for in the Symphonic Category of the 2017 International Classical Music Awards! Winners will be announced on January 2017 with an awards ceremony and gala in Leipzig, Germany on April 1st. “The International Classical Music Awards recognise creativity, imagination in choice of repertoire and artistic excellence.” Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6; Dvořák Rusalka Fantasy Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra & Manfred Honeck Reference Recordings Amazon iTunes…
Now Available Strauss: Elektra/Der Rosenkavalier Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Manfred Honeck, Music Director Presenting the World Premiere of the First Symphonic Suite From Elektra! Get It Today This new recording presents orchestral suites based on two of the most significant operas in history. Der Rosenkavalier found its place in the concert hall from the beginning, first with two waltz sequences and later with the famous 1944 suite. But Elektra remained purely on the opera stage until…
In honor of tomorrow’s sixth Pittsburgh LIVE! release, enjoy a listen back to all of our Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck recordings via SoundCloud:
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette offer previews of what to expect in the new Pittsburgh Symphony recording of Suites from Richard Strauss operas with reviews from the ensemble’s performances of the works: “The concert opened with Honeck’s ‘Elektra Suite,’ which the conductor created with Tomas Ille. Strauss’s opera is even more brutal, sensational and progressive in compositional style than his previous opera ‘Salome.’ His use of bitonality preceded Stravinsky’s in ‘Petrouchka’ by several years.…
Gramophone Magazine reviews San Francisco Ballet Orchestra’s Moszkowski: From Foreign Lands recording in the November 2016 issue: “Why concert promoters and record labels have such trouble with Moszkowski I’ll never know, especially his once-celebrated orchestral music. For instance, not a single item from this disc ever featured in the BBC’s wide-ranging, inclusive Proms, with the exception of the work that made Moszkowski’s fortune, the five Spanish Dances, Op. 2…it is a pleasure…to have the repertoire…
WQED shares the Pittsburgh Symphony’s performance of Manfred Honeck and Thomas Ille’s Elektra Suite! Hear it on the recording — out this week! Strauss: Elektra/Rosenkavalier Excerpts from Elektra and Der Rosenkavalier: Suites from the Opera Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Manfred Honeck, Music Director Pre-Order! See the reviews! MusicWeb International Graham Williams, HRAudio Adrian Quanjer, HRAudio
Reference Recordings would like to extend a warm round of thanks to our veterans today on Veteran’s Day. In honor of the day, we’d like to offer a performance from Reference Recordings artist and U.S. Navy veteran, Doug MacLeod:
Strauss: Elektra/Rosenkavalier Excerpts from Elektra and Der Rosenkavalier: Suites from the Opera Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Manfred Honeck, Music Director Pre-Order! See the reviews! MusicWeb International Graham Williams, HRAudio Adrian Quanjer, HRAudio
“…Cathy’s ghostly offstage voice in the Prologue soon had me hooked, Heathcliff’s passionate, florid response utterly in keeping with the novel’s spirit.… Georgia Jarman and Kelly Markgraf as the doomed couple are terrific, Markgraf’s testosterone-rich baritone a stark contrast to Vale Rideout’s insipid Edgar Linton. Chad Shelton’s Hindley is suitably brutish. Diction is clear, the English accents pretty decent. Repeated listenings reveal a myriad of instrumental details, like the rude trombone glissandi during Joseph’s tedious…
“Thanks to Strauss’ distinctive sound world, this was the first time in many years that any music had both disturbed and excited me to such a remarkable degree. Both Elektra and Der Rosenkavalier work marvellously in this symphonic suite form. Especially striking in its new guise is Elektra, a work which startles and unsettles with murder, obsession and thirst for revenge pushing harmony and tonality to the edge and sheer barbarity of sound to levels…