Archive for Editor’s Choice
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck’s Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 and Schulhoff: Five Pieces is a Gramophone Recording of the Month
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck’s Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 and Schulhoff: Five Pieces is a Gramophone Recording of the Month and Editor’s Choice feature! “Manfred Honeck has been Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony since 2008, during which time they have released many discs together on Reference Recordings, including several that have earned recognition as Editor’s Choice: Dvořák, Mahler and ‘Promethean’ Beethoven (as described by Richard Osborne, 12/15) among others.… And now they…
Two Gramophone Recordings of the Year!
Gramophone Magazine has released their 2015 Recordings of the Year in a special free digital issue and includes two Reference Recordings releases! Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3, “Organ” Jan Kraybill, organ; Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern “…the crucial test is not so much the volume of the organ but the way in which the orchestral context of the symphony as a whole is established. Here Michael Stern impressively injects impetus into the first section’s sinewy fabric,…
Pittsburgh Symphony Beethoven a Gramophone Editor’s Choice
Gramophone Magazine names Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s new Beethoven: Symphony Nos. 5 & 7 a December Editor’s Choice! “The Pittsburgh playing marries epic power with a revealing translucency of texture, something which the aptly named Soundmirror team catches in sound the provides generous levels of reverberation with crystal-clear detailing. Honeck has a wonderful ear for detail, be it quietly thematic or utterly bizarre, as in the piccolo’s crackerjack contributions to the finale of the…
Pittsburgh Symphony Beethoven An AllMusic Editor’s Choice!
AllMusic.com names the new Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck BEETHOVEN recording a November Editor’s Choice! “…this intriguing hybrid SACD from Reference Recordings is a real adventure. The excitement lies in Manfred Honeck’s clear-headed and musically sound interpretations and the astonishing performances by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, which are not based on conventional practices but on careful study of the scores and original sketches, documentation from Beethoven’s time, and what has been concealed under layers of…
Kansas City Symphony Saint-Saens an AllMusic Editor’s Choice
AllMusic names Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony’s Saint-Saëns recording an Editor’s Choice! “Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony deliver this celebrated Romantic symphony with extraordinary vitality, crisp articulation, and brilliant sonorities, and their performances of the two filler pieces are equally vivid and exciting. Of special note are the soloists, organist Jan Kraybill in the symphony, violinist Noah Geller in the Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, and the duo of Geller and cellist…
Bruckner an All Music Editor’s Choice
Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Bruckner recording is a March All Music Editor’s Choice! “Honeck gives this live performance a rather expansive interpretation, emphasizing the long sweep of melody and using a fair amount of rubato in his tempos to add dramatic shading, particularly by drawing out cadences for their full emotional effect. The orchestra is prepared for all of Honeck’s gradations and nuances, and it is remarkably fluid in shifting from one mood…