Archive for Gramophone Magazine – Page 2
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…
True Concord Voices and Orchestra and the Utah Symphony in Gramophone Magazine!
Utah Symphony’s Mahler Symphony No. 1 and True Concord Voices and Orchestra’s Far In the Heavens both get Gramophone Magazine features in the October 2015 issue! Far In The Heavens “… abundantly lyric, soothingly consonant works…True Concord’s…vocal blend gilds the unaccompanied works especially with a halo of resonance.” —Alexander Coghlan Order & Listen Now: ReferenceRecordings.comAmazonArkivMusicApple MusicSpotify Mahler: Symphony No. 1 “…the orchestra acquits itself with distinction. The opening dawn chorus is notable for its hushed…
Kansas City Symphony Saint-Saëns a Gramophone Editor’s Choice!
Gramophone Magazine names the new Kansas City Symphony Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 “Organ” recording a September Editor’s Choice! “…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, alert to instrumental colour and the contrapuntal discipline and intrigue of the writing. The organ, making its…
Joel Fan and Dances for Piano and Orchestra Featured in Gramophone
Gramophone Magazine’s February issue features a wonderful new interview with Joel Fan about his latest Reference Recordings release as well as a wonderful review from Gramophone critic, Donald Rosenberg: “Fan sounds perfectly at home in these virtuoso novelties, which are probably known to few musicians other than intrepid pianists. … turn up the volume to appreciate the fervour and dynamism Fan brings to his challenging duties. He immerses himself in a series of colourful collaborations…
Gramophone Uses Miraculous Metamorphoses Recording as Reference
In the December Hi-Fi section of Gramophone magazine, critic Andrew Everard uses our Kansas City Symphony Miraculous Metamorphoses recording to test out a new pair of B&W Speakers: “Reference Recordings disc ‘Miraculous Metamorphoses’, with the Kansas City Symphony under Michael Stern captured in another of Keith O Johnson’s stunning engineering and mastering jobs, and the B&Ws really get their teeth into everything from the subtle detailing of the orchestra to the great, hall-filling sweeps of…
Dvořák & Janáček A Gramophone Critics’ Choice
The Gramophone Magazine 2014 Critics’ Choice Selections are out, and Manfred Honeck and Pittsburgh Symphony’s Dvořák & Janáček SACD has made the cut: “Manfred Honeck’s Pittsburgh Symphony Recording of Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony is among the most stylish, fastidiously prepared, excitingly interpreted and beautifully played orchestral performances I’ve heard in a long while, and the recording matches Honeck’s musical achievement…” —Rob Cowan, Gramophone Buy Now
Gramophone Reviews Kansas City Symphony’s Miraculous Metamorphoses
Gramophone Magazine’s July Issue of “Sounds of America” features the Kansas City Symphony and their latest release, Miraculous Metamorphoses: “The Kansas City Symphony have been on a roll with Michael Stern…[Miraculous Metamorphoses] are works that provide conductor and musicians with a spectrum of atmospheres and colours into which they can sink their respective teeth. Stern and his orchestra do so to captivating effect, without resorting to sonic exaggeration. … Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of…
Pittsburgh Symphony Strauss named a Gramophone Editor’s Choice!
Gramophone Magazine names the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s new Strauss release an “Editor’s Choice” recording for the new March issue! Not surprisingly, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra play these three masterly symphonic poems with virtuosity, great feeling and a glorious patina of string tone, and the rich hall resonance is well caught by the SACD recording. But what make these performances so outstanding are Manfred Honeck’s interpretations, which vividly bring out the music’s emotional and pictorial detail.…
Gramophone Reviews Bizet
Donald Rosenberg reviews San Francisco Ballet Orchestra’s new Bizet recording in the November 2013 issue of Gramophone Magazine: “Bizet sounds like a cross between Schumann and Brahms as transported to the layered textures of the orchestra. The atmospheres lean towards the brooding and dramatic, and Weingartner takes every opportunity to add sonic interest by passing figures among instrumental sections. The San Francisco musicians give the score a performance that balances tonal depth with expressive intensity.…
Kansas City Symphony Elgar/Vaughan Williams Recording featured in Gramophone
The newly available May 2013 issue of Gramophone Magazine features a wonderful interview with conductor Michael stern about the Kansas City Symphony’s latest recording of Elgar and Vaughan Williams, and also includes a new review for the release! “…the Kansas City Symphony sets its sights on another with a second all-English concert for multiple Grammy-winner Reference Recordings, featuring a revelatory Enigma Variations. From the outset, Michael Stern and his world-class band bypass the riddle by…
Delibes Reviews Pour in over the weekend
Reviews for the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra’s Delibes: Sylvia/Coppélia came pouring in over the weekend! Check out a few quotes below: Gramophone: “…This pairing of suites from the composer’s ballets by the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, the first and still arguably best-standing ballet orchestra in the US, avoids both extremes. Under current music director Martin West, the orchestra revels in the immediacy of the music without ever losing sight of the overall narrative. So too…
Gramophone Reviews Brubeck/Gandolfi/Foss
The North American publication of Gramophone‘s October 2011 issue features a wonderful review of our Concord Chamber Music Society release of works by Brubeck, Gandolfi, and Foss. We’ll excerpt some quotes for you here, and you can find the full review in the October issue of Gramophone Magazine. Nuanced and authoritative playing of intense new chamber works: On Danza del soul: …The first movement of Chris Brubeck’s Danza del soul opens with a tuneful unaccompanied…
Gramophone Magazine Review
We are very excited and proud of the recent review of Britten’s Orchestra in Gramophone Magazine. Here is a great quote from that review: “In a brilliant display of orchestral power and poetry from the country’s heartland, Michael Stern leads the Kansas City Symphony in an all-Britten programme that speaks eloquently . . . As always with this great audiophile label, the skill and commitment of Reference’s recording team need to be accorded special recognition.…