Archive for Graham Rickson
The Arts Desk’s New Favorite Beethoven Concertos
Graham Rickson of The Arts Desk reviews Garrick Ohlsson, Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, and Sir Donald Runnicles’ Complete Beethoven Piano Concertos recording: “the results are impressive even by this label’s high standards. There’s a palpable bloom and warmth to the sound, Ohlsson’s deft rhythmic sense ensuring that things never feel complacent. Take the effervescent finale to the first concerto, the interplay between orchestral winds and soloist perfectly judged. Concerto No. 2 is another treat,…
The Arts Desk Reviews “One Movement Symphonies”
Graham Rickson reviews The Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern’s recording of Barber, Sibelius, and Scriabin One Movement Symphonies on The Arts Desk: “[Barber’s Symphony No. 1 is] played brilliantly here, Michael Stern’s Kansas City Symphony having exactly the right tonal blend for this music. Brass have ample weight, and the strings sing. Scriabin’s Poem of Ecstasy receives a similarly ripe performance. … This Sibelius 7 is excellent. Stern’s transitions are seamless, and the trombone theme’s third…
The Arts Desk Declares Pittsburgh Symphony’s Tchaikovsky and Leshnoff a Winner
Graham Rickson praises the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck’s recording of Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 and Jonathan Leshnoff Double Concerto in The Arts Desk: “Quick warning: the Pittsburgh brass are borderline oppressive in Tchaikovsky’s opening fate motif, and it’s all for the good; this symphony’s initial bars should be scary if the journey from darkness to light is to feel convincing. … This is thrilling stuff – sample the Pittsburgh horns’ exultant big tune…
The Arts Desk Reviews Hermitage Piano Trio’s Rachmaninoff
The Arts Desk‘s Graham Rickson reviews the Hermitage Piano Trio’s GRAMMY®-nominated Rachmaninoff album: “This performance, from three Russian musicians, oozes soul. Cellist Sergey Antonov has a gloriously dark tone, and he’s well matched with violinist Misha Keylin. And what a beautifully balanced recording too, pianist Ilya Kazantsev’s Steinway captured with startling fidelity. This never once sounds like a contractual meeting between three starry soloists; it’s clear that these musicians have lived with this music for…
The Arts Desk Reviews Holst: The Planets
The Arts Desk’s Graham Rickson reviews Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern’s recording of Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool: “Michael Stern’s Kansas City Symphony version is a blast… An audiophile’s delight as well as a musical treat, Stern gets pretty much everything right. You’ll hear things in this recording that you’ll struggle to discern on starrier versions, the marvel being that nothing feels forced or artificially spotlit. There’s a sepulchral brass chorale a few…
The Arts Desk Reviews John Williams At The Movies
The Arts Desk‘s Graham Rickson’s Classical CD Weekly column features a new review for the Dallas Winds and Jerry Junkin’s John Williams At The Movies recording! “The Dallas Winds is a rarity in that it’s a professional wind band, 50 woodwind, brass and percussion players tackling ‘an eclectic blend ranging from marches and Broadway show tunes, to soundtracks and big band standards’. This is an unabashedly popular release, but that’s all the more reason to…
Arts Desk Reviews Marvelous New Pittsburgh Symphony Recording
The Arts Desk reviews the new Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio recording in their Classical CDs Weekly feature: Order Now “This is the sort of performance you want to press into the hands of someone who’s never heard the piece. It’s marvellous, in so many ways, Honeck steering a near-ideal course between hysteria and sobriety. Lower strings are impressive from the outset, their sound pungent and full of weight.…
The Arts Desk Reviews Carlisle Floyd’s Wuthering Heights Recording
“…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…
Pittsburgh Symphony Tchaikovsky/Dvořák is “Outstanding”
“Any new disc from this particular team is usually an event, and this one keeps up the trend. It’s unusual to find a leading conductor who doesn’t seem set on setting down complete cycles of everything. Manfred Honeck’s discography is highly selective, and all the better for it.… Honeck’s careful handling of Tchaikovsky’s dynamic markings pays enormous dividends. Some passages exist on the very edge of audibility and the ffff explosions will rattle your sash…
Beethoven an Arts Desk Best of 2015
The Arts Desk has named their Best Classical CDs of 2015 and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s new Beethoven: Symphony Nos. 5 & 7 has made the list: “Beethoven liked large-scale performances and he’d presumably have approved of Manfred Honeck’s Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performances of Symphonies 5 and 7. This is sensational orchestral playing, beautifully recorded, and these readings have an irresistible sweep and grandeur. One of those rare CDs which should leave you speechless after…
Pittsburgh Symphony Beethoven “as an anti-depressant”
Graham Rickson reviews the new Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck Beethoven Symphony Nos. 5 & 7 recording for The Arts Desk: “These performances, though never sluggish, are huge. In the best possible way. Their grandeur is irresistible, reminding us just how rare large-scale, modern instrument performances are. We know that Beethoven preferred big orchestras. He’d presumably have loved this disc. … Glorious. As is this Seventh, the Vivace’s rhythms enunciated with impeccable clarity. ……
The Arts Desk Reviews the Utah Symphony’s Mahler Symphony No. 1
The Arts Desk critic Graham Rickson has a new review of Thierry Fischer and the Utah Symphony’s Mahler: Symphony No. 1 recording: “Wonderfully played too, by an orchestra many won’t have heard of, under a conductor usually associated with French repertoire. Readers with long memories may remember a pioneering 1960s and 1970s Mahler cycle recorded by the Utah Symphony under Maurice Abravanel, frustratingly difficult to find now. Abravanel’s zeal compensated for the occasional lapses in…
The Arts Desk Recommends Kansas City Symphony’s Saint-Saëns
Graham Rickson of The Arts Desk listens to the new Kansas City Symphony Saint-Saëns recording: “Saint-Saëns’s La Muse et le Poéte is the rarity here, a 15-minute piece for violin, cello and orchestra. A mixture of symphonic poem and concerto, it’s a real find. Muse and poet are represented by rhapsodic violin solo and an earthier cello, and the two voices slowly find a way to work together. It’s impeccably structured, brilliantly orchestrated and highly…
The Arts Desk Says Honeck is “At It Again”
The Arts Desk‘s Graham Rickson named the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Dvořák/Janáček recording a “Best of 2014”, so how does the new Bruckner SACD stack up? “Manfred Honeck’s at it again. Changing dynamics, tampering with tempo markings, adjusting balances. But when the results feel so idiomatically right, only a chump would object. … Start noting down the high spots and you’ll need several sheets of paper. … This is a great performance, exactly the sort of disc…
Dvořák & Janáček a Best of 2014
Graham Rickson of The Arts Desk names Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Dvořák/Janáček SACD a “Best of 2014”! “My favourite CD of the year, and one of the best recordings you’ll ever hear, is Manfred Honeck’s Pittsburgh Symphony performance of Dvořák’s 8th Symphony. …it’s rarely been dispatched with this much polish, or directed with such a winning combination of smartness and fun. … If this disc doesn’t make you dance around the room,…