Archive for Manfred Honeck – Page 17
The Arts Desk Says Dvořák & Janáček is “Beyond Criticism”
The Arts Desk‘s Graham Rickson has a new rave for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck’s latest FRESH! From Reference Recordings SACD: “Dvořák’s…Eighth [symphony] is the most radical, and Manfred Honeck’s remarkable performance highlights its originality in some style. …[Honeck] justifies every interpretive decision in his sleeve notes, and the musical results are pretty special. … What follows is electrifying – an exuberant adrenalin rush… Reach the close, and you’ll hopefully be awestruck. Cheap…
BBC Music Magazine Gives Five Stars to Pittsburgh Symphony’s “Strauss”
BBC Music Magazine gives the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Strauss recording five stars! “Manfred Honeck’s interpretations have huge personality, and mostly in the right way. … The poetry is intense, yielding in Don Juan the most beautiful oboe cantilena ever. … The orchestra plays passionately and luminously, with the brass thrusting when they need to be. … the recorded Strauss celebrations are going well in 150th-anniversary year.” —David Nice, BBC Music Magazine Read the full review on…
The Pittsburgh Symphony Gets Five Stars from Audiophile Audition
Critic Steven Ritter says the new Pittsburgh Symphony recording is “Interpretatively and sonically, this is one of the best releases of the Dvorak 8th I have ever heard.” in a new Five-Star Review: “This album only confirms the fact that the Pittsburgh Symphony, always one of America’s greatest and most underrated orchestras, now tops the list in both interpretative finesse and recorded sound. … Phrasing is perfect; he lingers some places where others may not,…
Classical Candor Reviews Dvořák and Janáček
Classical Candor‘s John J. Puccio has a new review for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s new Dvořák & Janáček SACD: “This new rendering of [Dvořák] No. 8 by Manfred Honeck and his Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on a live Reference Recordings Fresh! hybrid SACD stacks up pretty well. … There is great exuberance in the conductor’s handling of the various themes, while the sounds of nature, like the birdsong of the flute, create a truly sweet atmosphere.…
ClassicsToday gives top scores to the new Pittsburgh Symphony SACD!
ClassicsToday gives a 10/10 for Artistic Quality and a 10/10 for Sound Quality to the new Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Dvořák & Janáček recording, hailing it as “Honeck’s Incandescent Dvořák 8th!” “There are few things more wonderful in the life of a record collector than a really great recording of a repertory warhorse. … along comes a performance by a conductor who loves the music, who has genuine ideas about how it should go and what…
Pizzicato Magazine with a Rave for the Pittsburgh Symphony!
Luxemburg’s Pizzicato Magazine has a new rave review for the Pittsburgh Symphony and their new Dvořák and Janáček recording: “This is one of the most gripping performances of Dvořák’s 8th Symphony that I ever heard. Honeck and Pittsburgh excel themselves and definitely team up to one of those great partnerships like Solti and Chicago, Ozawa and Boston, Bernstein and New York, Szell and Cleveland, Tilson-Thomas and San Francisco.” —Alain Steffen, Pizzicato Read the full review…
“You won’t be disappointed” with the New Pittsburgh Sympony SACD
Film music critic, Thomas Kiefner says “You won’t be disappointed” with the new Pittsburgh Symphony Dvořák/Janáček SACD: “One of the keys to the success of this recording is the superior sound which you’ll best hear in SACD… When I played it through my stereo system the result was nothing short of spectacular. Yes you’ll hear the occasional rustling of the papers and a stray cough but at least to me I didn’t find it distracting…
Audiophilia Recommends New Pittsburgh Symphony SACD
Audiophilia recommends the new Pittsburgh Symphony Dvořák/Janáček recording in their July Recommended New Releases: “Here, under a warm Bohemian sun, the Pittsburgers and their man have scored a home run. … And, though the opera Jenůfa is about child loss and redemption, conductor Honeck’s ‘conceptualization’ of the opera’s themes into a ‘Suite’ makes for very enjoyable listening. The pathos is there but with such wonderful and infectious rhythms, it’s hard to feel down. … Taken…
Now Available — The Pittsburgh Symphony: Dvořák & Janáček!
Dvořák • Janáček Manfred Honeck Pittsburgh Symphony OrchestraFR-710 SACD Antonin Dvořák Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 Leoš Janáček Symphonic Suite from “Jenůfa”(Conceptualized by Manfred Honeck, realized by Tomáš Ille) Thrilling Live Performances From The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, In Brilliant Audiophile Sound! This release is the second in the “Pittsburgh Live!” series of multi-channel hybrid SACD releases on the FRESH! series from Reference Recordings. For more than 116 years, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra…
Culture Spot LA Reviews New Pittsburgh Symphony Release
Culture Spot LA, which reviewed the first Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra recording on FRESH! From Reference Recordings, is already raving about the next installment in the “Pittsburgh Live!” series: “Anyone who is familiar with the Dvořák G major symphony will find Honeck’s interpretation remarkable. Like his interpretations of the Strauss tone poems, Honeck takes great liberties with the tempo and dynamics in order to realize his vision. … The result is a fresh and exciting version…
AllMusic Rave Review for Pittsburgh Symphony Strauss
AllMusic.com tabbed our Strauss CD with the Pittsburgh Symphony a January Editor’s Choice, with critic, Blair Sanderson, saying “Richard Strauss’ Don Juan, Death and Transfiguration, and Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks receive the finest sound on this hybrid SACD.” “If any music seems ideally suited for the multichannel super audio format, the lavish orchestral tone poems of Richard Strauss must be at the top of the list. This hybrid SACD of Strauss’ Don Juan, Death and…
ClassicsToday Gives Strauss full 10s!
ClassicsToday gives Pittsburgh Symphony’s Strauss recording a 10/10 in both Artist & Sound Quality! “Recordings like this restore one’s faith in the possibility of true musical greatness. Manfred Honeck conducts this music as do few others today. He’s not afraid to have a good time, nor is he a strict literalist. … For all of their larger-than-life qualities, Honeck remains sensitive to every dynamic nuance, intricacy of balance, and rhythmic quirk. Every one of these…
MusicWeb International Reviews Pittsburgh Symphony Strauss
Michael Cookson has a new review for the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Strauss release in MusicWeb International: “Maestro Honeck conducts the noble introduction to Don Juan with an heroic feel to this moody and colourful score in which a sumptuous and ripe sensuality predominates. With a striking range of orchestral colour the Pittsburgh orchestra’s stormy and robust surges of restless energy are almost overpowering. … Recorded in 2012 by Soundmirror of Boston the satisfying sound certainly serves…
La Folia Says It Doesn’t Get Better than the Pittsburgh Symphony Strauss
La Folia with a wonderful rave review of the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Struass SACD: “It really doesn’t get better than this. … From Don Juan’s opening bars, it is impossible not to smile at this recording’s dynamism. In the notes Honeck itemizes a ticking clock, labored breathing, and irregular accents indicating a distorted gait, etc., all of which are astoundingly vivid. …[I] am glad that Till Eulenspiegel closes this program. The twisting clarinet precisely portrays Till’s…
ClassicalEar Gives Five Stars to Strauss
The ClassicalEar iPhone Review App has a new five-star review for our Pittsburgh Symphony Strauss SACD! “This is quite a disc. Manfred Honeck’s live performances from June 2012 bring so much to admire, not least a thrilling electricity, heaps of chutzpah, revelatory detail and sparky temperament… just sit back and marvel at the PSO’s breathtaking sheen, swaggering virtuosity and remarkable composure (fabulous horns throughout). … In short, an exceptionally stimulating and hugely charismatic Strauss anthology.…