Archive for Best of 2016
More Best of 2016 Honors for Fiona Boyes!
Order Now The Best of 2016 honors for Fiona Boyes’ new Professin’ The Blues release continue to roll in! The Professor’s Honor Roll of 2016 “I hereby dub Fiona Boyes, The Queen of Old School. She has a great sound and manages to pour more blues into her stripped-down approach than just about anybody else. Her guitar work is top notch, and her vocals are dead on. If you like that sound, you will love…
Pittsburgh Symphony on Forbes’ Best Recordings List!
Forbes has released their 10 Best Classical Recordings of 2016 list and the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck Strauss: Elektra/Rosenkavalier recording comes in at #8: “Manfred Honeck’s ‘Elektra Symphonic Drama’ (co-written by Manfred Honeck and Tomáš Ille) absolutely lifts the lid and shows you how much sensuous and sumptuous music there’s in this opera already, which otherwise looks and sounds, on experiencing in toto or in the opera house, so very, very – indeed totally…
2016 HDTracks Top Downloads
HDTracks.com is ending the year with collections of their best sellers and audiophile picks for 2016 and there are quite a few RR recordings in the mix! Top 25 Classical Bestsellers #12 – Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 & No. 7 – Featuring the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck Top 100 Recommended Classical Ebony Concerto – Featuring John Bruce Yeh Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 “Organ” – Featuring the Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern Audiophile Picks…
Pittsburgh Symphony Tchaikovsky an American Record Guide Best of 2016
American Record Guide critics have listed their “Critics Choice” recordings for 2016, and editor Donald Vroon has nominated the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6. “Here is a symphony that has been recorded a great deal. Even conductors who don’t like Tchaikovsky have recorded it, probably because of the challenges it presents. So naturally there have been a great many routine performances under conductors who have no real feeling for it. Manfred…
Professin’ The Blues an Iowa Public Radio Best of 2016!
Order Now Host Bobb Dorr of Iowa Public Radio has released his “Best New Blues of 2016” list and includes Fiona Boyes’ “Devil You Know” track from Professin’ The Blues: “My pick for acoustic album of the year is also by a woman. Australian Fiona Boyes (who splits her time between Australia and Oregon) was the first woman to win the International Blues Challenge. She plays electric and acoustic guitar and is one of the…
Pittsburgh Symphony an ArkivMusic Best of 2016
ArkivMusic.com names Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s Strauss: Elektra & Der Rosenkavalier their #2 recording of 2016! This ongoing series from orchestra and conductor goes from strength to strength. Another stunning album, one which should be an essential purchase for devotees of the composer. See the list on ArkivMusic.com Reference Recordings Amazon Native DSD
Wuthering Heights an Opera News Top 10
Opera News released their Top 10 Opera Recordings of 2016, and coming in at #8 was the Florentine Opera and Milwaukee Symphony recording of Carlisle Floyd’s Wuthering Heights! “It contains some beautiful music that deserves to be heard, as evidenced by this world-premiere recording.” —Rebecca Paller Florentine Opera Company Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Joseph Mechavich, conductor The Florentine Opera Company® brings American opera composer Carlisle Floyd’s operatic masterpiece, based on the classic English novel by Emily…
Kansas City Saint-Saëns on Fanfare’s Want List
Fanfare critic Andrew Quint has named Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony’s Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 “Organ” to his 2016 year-end “Want List”: “San Francisco’s Reference Recordings, issuing musically worthy recordings in audiophile sound for more than three decades, continues its rewarding relationship with Michael Stern and the over-achieving Kansas City Symphony. This all-Saint-Saëns program is anchored by the well-worn “Organ” Symphony, played here with sure-footed metrical precision plus plenty of cinematic splendor. “Professor”…
Pittsburgh Symphony On Fanfare Want Lists!
Three Fanfare Magazine critics have Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s recordings on their 2016 year-end “Want Lists”: Order Now Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 “Manfred Honeck’s Beethoven… helps you to recapture the shock of the new. There is nothing gimmicky or freakish about it, but I wasn’t 10 seconds into this SACD before I sat up and took notice. The booklet contains Honeck’s almost blow-by-blow description of both symphonies, and it is…