Now Available for Pre-Order on Amazon: Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Manfred Honeck, conductor Thrilling live performances from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, in brilliant audiophile sound! Anton Bruckner s Symphony No. 4 in E flat major ( Romantic ) is one of the composer s most popular works. Manfred Honeck and the PSO offer us a fresh and powerful new interpretation of this great music on third release in the Pittsburgh Live! series…
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
Baltimore City Paper has released their Top 10 Classical Albums of 2014 list, and The Pittsburgh Symphony’s Dvořák & Janáček SACD is #1! Their List: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, “Dvorák: Symphony No. 8 – Janácek: Jenufa Suite” (Reference Recordings) Seattle Symphony Orchestra, “John Luther Adams: Become Ocean” (Cantaloupe) St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, “City Noir” (Nonesuch) Anonymous 4, “David Lang: love fail” (Cantaloupe) Boston Modern Orchestra Project, “Elena Ruehr: O’Keeffe Images” (BMOP/sound) Rushes Ensemble, “Michael Gordon: Rushes”…
Fanfare Magazine critics can’t get enough of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Raymond Tuttle wasn’t the only critic with a Pittsburgh Live! release on their year-end “Want List”: “Under music director Manfred Honeck, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is increasingly recognized as an ensemble to reckon with. It’s our good fortune that an audiophile label, San Francisco’s Reference Recordings has, so far, released two SACDs from the PSO. (The other is a Richard Strauss program.) The audio…
Fanfare Magazine critics are submitting their annual “Want Lists” and critic Raymond Tuttle puts our Pittsburgh Symphony Strauss release at the top: “These Want Lists are difficult for me, because, Lord knows, I want everything… My philosophy is that basic repertoire will seldom make my Want List because, in this age of redundancy, priority should be given to that which is new or at least unfamiliar. Having written that, I start with an exception. Strauss’s…
Extra! Extra! 2015 GRAMMY Awards Best Orchestral Performance Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck — Dvořák & Janáček! See the list of Nominees at www.grammy.com! 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…
Fanfare Magazine says Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Dvořák & Janáček SACD joins highest ranks: “What lifts this reading high enough to join the excellent ones one might name from the past (Walter, Kubelík, Kertész, Szell, Giulini, Tennstedt—the list is long) is that Honeck follows through with musical gestures that match all the points he makes in his notes. … Care is lavished on the details of a score that, frankly, is thrice-familiar…
MusicWeb International has released their critics nominations for Record of the Year and of the 141 nominations, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Strauss was one of only eight recordings that received two nominations from critics! “…there is excitement, drama and romance aplenty served in top notch sound. For me this recording joins the best.” —Ian Lace “When the horns cut loose in Don Juan, halfway through and near the end, it feels like you’ve been strapped…
The International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) has officially announced the 2015 nominees, and our Strauss SACD featuring Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has been nominated in the Symphonic Music category! The ICMA (previously known as the Cannes Classical Awards and the MIDEM Classical Music Awards) first began awarding prizes in 2011. Awards and nominations are decided by a jury of 16 distinguished classical critics and broadcasters representing countries from across Europe and beyond.…
The New York Times “Classical Playlist” features the Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Dvořák & Janáček recording: “Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra have quietly become one of the country’s hottest partnerships in repertory staples, thereby invigorating and legitimizing the very idea of a canon. Mr. Honeck’s trademark flexible tempos, along with the spectacularly refined playing he draws, enliven this Dvorak war horse. A suite from Janacek’s “Jenufa,” conceived by Mr. Honeck and…
MusicWeb International‘s John Quinn had yet to hear a Manfred Honeck or Pittsburgh Symphony recording before listening to our new Dvořák/Janáček SACD, and based on this review, it won’t be the last: “I very much respect Honeck’s thoughtful and often perceptive approach and I loved the freshness of the performance. I love this symphony – it’s my favourite Dvořák symphony – and I greatly enjoyed this performance. … All of which leads me on nicely…
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.…
Canada’s Classical Music Sentinel has a new rave for the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Dvořák & Janáček SACD: “…the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra members clearly project their enjoyment of the music through their individual instruments and in doing so, generate impressive sonics. And once again, the recording engineers have captured these sonics as naturally as possible. From the sweetness of the solo flute ushering in the symphony’s main idea at the 45 second mark of the opening movement,…
Karl Lozier has a couple of features for Reference Recordings releases in the latest Positive Feedback Online: Traveling Sonata “These attractive classical selections are quite varied…The two performers decided on specific selections here ranging from the soothing and mellow music of Faure and Satie to the more exciting “Bolero” and “Carmen ” and to the modern music of Dyens and Duplessy. … Many of the selections are mellow and relaxing as well as simply interesting.…
Enjoy The Music‘s Joe Milicia reviews the new Pittsburgh Symphony Dvořák & Janáček SACD and gives it a 5/5 rating for Performance and Recording Quality! “It would be great to have more program notes like the one in Reference Recordings’ new Pittsburgh Symphony release, with the conductor commenting in detail on his own interpretation of the music. … On a first hearing I found the performance overall to be consistently interesting but a bit studied—”carefully”…