HRAudio.net‘s Adrian Quanjer gives a five-star rating to Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 and Steven Stucky: “Silent Spring” recording: “Unfamiliar as I was with Silent Spring, in Honeck’s reading it unescapably got my immediate attention. Expressing in music what is barely possible to express in words. Around 15 minutes of awareness of the formidable complexities of nature is in itself already worth acquiring this release. … I have no…
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…
Adrian Quanjer adds a second HRAudio.net review for the new Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck recording of Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” and Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1: “One more ‘Eroica’? Not quite. This is an exceptional account which doesn’t necessarily supplant your cherished favourites, because the reason for wanting to have it is of a completely different nature: This performance sheds an unexpected new light on probably the biggest war horse of all…
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,…
HRAudio.net has an advance ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review for our upcoming Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5/Barber: Adagio for Strings recording: Order Now “The inevitable question of ‘do we really need another Shostakovich 5’ must be answered with a clear and unequivocal YES. … Recorded in the autumn of 2013 it is only now, almost four years later that…this further example of the extraordinary marriage between Honeck and the Pittsburghers comes to light.…
Upcoming Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck release, Strauss: Elektra/Rosenkavalier is already receiving critical praise: “Simply sensational! The eminent sound quality, for which Soundmirror, Boston deserves all the credits, takes the listener straight into the reality of Heinz Hall where Maestro Manfred Honeck grabs you by the throat with his ‘shaped into the minutest detail’ Pittsburgh Symphony, in a high octane performance of a new ‘Elektra Suite’ conceptualized by him and realized by his Czech…
“This recording of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Pathétique’ is a ‘monument’ in every sense of the word. … Conveying ideas to an orchestra is one thing, but letting an orchestral body of around 100 musicians carry them out like clockwork, as if holding everyone on a personal string, can only be done if musicians believe in their master and have confidence in what he is asking them to do. This makes a Chef stand out from the crowd.…
A second HRAudio.net review from contributor Adrian Quanjer: “Playing and recording, including dynamic contrasts and rhythmic changes, touch upon extremes: Both are extraordinarily well done, but one cannot escape a feeling of them having been stretched to the maximum. Taking the fifth symphony as an example, one notes that interpretational drive, richly inspired by Beethoven’s inner conflicts, unrelenting fury and continuous struggle to conquer defeat, sweeps up the orchestra to the limits of what it…