The New York Times critic David Allen adds the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s Beethoven: Symphony Nos. 5 & 7 to the Arts Beat Classical Playlist: “Ninety seconds is all it takes to understand that Manfred Honeck’s is no sanitized Beethoven: the plethora of colorations, articulations and moods through which he forces the Fifth’s famous motto sees to that. Every phrase, every balance has been thought through in interventionist readings that are idiosyncratic but fully…
The Utah Symphony’s September release of Mahler: Symphony No. 1 “Titan” gets a feature in the New York Times Classical Playlist: “A cycle of Mahler symphonies was a nice way for the Swiss conductor Thierry Fischer, 57, who took over the Utah Symphony in 2009, to celebrate both its 75th anniversary (in 2015) and the memory of Maurice Abravanel, the orchestra’s great music director from 1947 to 1979.” —James R. Oestreich, New York Times Mahler:…
The New York Times “Classical Playlist” features the Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Dvořák & Janáček recording: “Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra have quietly become one of the country’s hottest partnerships in repertory staples, thereby invigorating and legitimizing the very idea of a canon. Mr. Honeck’s trademark flexible tempos, along with the spectacularly refined playing he draws, enliven this Dvorak war horse. A suite from Janacek’s “Jenufa,” conceived by Mr. Honeck and…