Archive for Michael Cookson
MusicWeb International Review for The Happy Workshop
Michael Cookson reviews the Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble and George Vosburgh’s recording of Strauss: The Happy Workshop & Serenade, Op. 7 for MusicWeb International: “The Reference Recordings label is noted for the quality of its recordings and this new album presenting a pair of underrated and neglected works for wind ensemble by Richard Strauss is no exception. … the Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble under Vosburgh provides an engaging performance making a convincing case for this…
MusicWeb International Continues Praise of Pittsburgh Symphony’s Beethoven and Strauss Recording
MusicWeb International has published a second review of the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s GRAMMY-nominated Beethoven: Symphony No. 3; Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 recording: “In this Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh recording, it’s evident that Manfred Honeck entirely acknowledges that this progressive score is music of extensive concentration, intensity and, as the designation might suggest, heroic power. Bold and focused, naturally flowing and stimulating with an undertow of mystery in the Allegro, this performance from the Pittsburgh…
Michael Cookson Reviews Utah Symphony’s Mahler Symphony No. 8
Critic Michael Cookson offers MusicWeb International‘s second review for Thierry Fischer, the Utah Symphony, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s recording of Mahler: Symphony No. 8. “Any performance of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony ‘Symphony of a Thousand’ is an event, owing to the large orchestral and choral forces plus vocal soloists required to present the work. … The Eighth Symphony is Mahler’s pantheistic vision of life and the universe with which Thierry Fischer here conducts his vast…
Manfred Honeck has the Pittsburgh Symphony in Fine Form
MusicWeb International critic, Michael Cookson, offers high praise for Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony‘s Barber: Adagio recording: “Samuel Barber’s renowned Adagio for Strings is his best-known work an arrangement for string orchestra from the second movement of his 1936 String Quartet, Op. 11. … In one of the finest performances I have heard, Honeck ensures the Adagio for Strings is played with an affecting vulnerability maintaining the emotional tension in the writing at an…
New Pittsburgh Symphony Recording is “Stunning”
“Thanks to Strauss’ distinctive sound world, this was the first time in many years that any music had both disturbed and excited me to such a remarkable degree. Both Elektra and Der Rosenkavalier work marvellously in this symphonic suite form. Especially striking in its new guise is Elektra, a work which startles and unsettles with murder, obsession and thirst for revenge pushing harmony and tonality to the edge and sheer barbarity of sound to levels…
MusicWeb Says Pittsburgh Symphony in “World Class Form”
“Consistently impressive is the ongoing ‘Pittsburgh Live!’ series from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under its music director Manfred Honeck. I made its release of the Beethoven Symphonies No’s 5 and 7 as one of my ‘Records of the Year’ for 2015. Now for the fifth album in this enthusiastically admired series Honeck has turned his attention to Tchaikovsky’s enduringly popular Sixth Symphony ‘Pathétique’ together with the world première recording of the newly arranged ‘Rusalka Fantasy’.…
Pittsburgh Symphony’s Beethoven A MusicWeb Recording of the Month
Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s new Beethoven: Symphony Nos. 5 & 7 gets a second (See the first) nomination for “Recording of the Month” from MusicWeb International! “Using a large orchestra one senses an elevated level of musical intelligence together with an unyielding structural coherence that produces impressively selected tempi, dynamic contrasts and moulding of phrase. These are mightily compelling performances, buoyantly rhythmic with plenty of thrust when required. Striking too is the penetrating…
Kansas City Saint-Saëns “A Pleasure To Own”
MusicWeb International critic Michael Cookson recounts a live Saint-Saëns “Organ” Symphony performance while reviewing our new Kansas City Symphony recording: In the Adagio – Allegro moderato Michael Stern’s well balanced opening soon increases in weight and volume. The efforts of the Kansas orchestra are thrilling. Stern engenders a sense of steely determination. The low growling entry of organ in the Poco adagio is notable and the dialogue between organ and strings is delightfully reflective. Conversely…
Bruckner a MusicWeb Recording of the Month!
Critic Michael Cookson names the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck Bruckner album a MusicWeb International Recording of the Month! “Having reviewed the mightily impressive first two releases in the ‘Pittsburgh Live!’ series I wondered how this third and latest disc would measure up. Enjoying every second of this captivating performance I can report that the series continues to provide an elevated standard of performance and sound. … In the opening movement the sheer force of the…
MusicWeb International Calls Dvořák & Janáček “Stunning”
A new MusicWeb International review finds Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s new Dvořák/Janáček SACD deserving of “significant praise”! “This excellent disc is the second in the ‘Pittsburgh Live!’ series. Earlier this year I reviewed the first in the series (Strauss tone poems) and was delighted by the elevated quality of performance and sound. … With playing of such captivating expression in the opening Allegro con brio the PSO conveys a colourful, fresh outdoor effect.…