Archive for Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra – Page 2
Brahms & MacMillan a NativeDSD Album of the Year
NativeDSD.com released their 2021 albums of the year, and the Orchestral winner is Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s recording of Brahms: Symphony No. 4 and Macmillan: Larghetto for Orchestra! “Athletic! I see that word applied to many of Honeck’s recordings – strong, emphatic performances! Sometimes he has been accused of being a bit over the top, but I find this Brahms Fourth to be excellent in every way. If I had to choose…
Five Stars for Honeck’s Beethoven Symphony No. 9
Audiophile Audition‘s Gary Lemco has published a five-star review for Manfred Honeck and Pittsburgh Symphony’s GRAMMY®-nominated Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 recording: “This performance does indeed balance its multifarious adjustments to Beethoven’s dynamic requirements with a spacious warmth in the realization that does not suffer lags and sags in the musical line. … We should acknowledge immediately the contribution of acting principal timpanist Christopher Allen in the Scherzo, given the constant immediacy of his presence. This often wild…
Five Stars from BBC Music Magazine for PSO’s Brahms & MacMillan
Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Brahms: Symphony No. 4 & MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra release receives a five-star review in the December issue of BBC Music Magazine! “In this outstanding performance of Brahms’s Fourth Symphony, Manfred Honeck draws a wonderfully rich, almost Central European string sound from the Pittsburgh Symphony, matched by equally mellifluous and wonderfully blended colours from the woodwind and horns. …there’s a thrilling immediacy to their playing which seems absolutely…
The ArtsDesk reviews Brahms & MacMillan
Graham Rickson reviews Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s recording of Brahms: Symphony No. 4 & MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra in The ArtsDesk: “This new Pittsburgh Symphony recording starts beautifully, Manfred Honeck lingering imperceptibly on the upbeat, an unmannered and affecting touch. ‘Unmannered’ sums this performance up; Honeck’s Brahms 4 is consistently idiomatic and fabulously played, the Pittsburgh orchestra’s dark, distinctive timbre perfect for this brooding work. Horns and lower strings are magnificent throughout: sample…
Pittsburgh Symphony’s Brahms Gets Five Stars from Norman Lebrecht
Norman Lebrecht gives five stars to Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s recording of Brahms: Symphony No. 4 and MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra. “The Larghetto, based on MacMillan’s choral setting of Psalm 51, moves from a Miserere starting point to something altogether more encouraging, an organic optimism that transcends present woes and looks to bright eternity. I would add it without hesitation to commemorative concerts for the COVID era. It’s the work of a fine composer writing…
2022 GRAMMY® Nominations!
Reference Recordings is excited to announce multiple nominations for the 2022 GRAMMY® Awards! Best Orchestral Performance Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 Manfred Honeck, conductor (Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) Best Engineered Album, Classical Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 Mark Donahue, engineer; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck, Mendelssohn Choir Of Pittsburgh & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) Congratulations to all involved in this double-nominated album!!! Producer of the Year, Classical David Frost Congratulations to producer David…
10s Across The Board for Brahms & MacMillan
Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Brahms: Symphony No. 4 and MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra receives a 10/10 in Artist Quality and Sound Quality from ClassicsToday.com and David Hurwitz! “After a first movement outstanding for its exquisitely gentle (but still fluent) opening and an aptly ferocious coda, the remainder of the symphony is noteworthy for its unusual fleetness–no “autumnal” Brahms here! This approach pays big dividends in the ballad-like second movement, whose singing, legato melodies…
Gramophone Reviews Pittsburgh Symphony’s Brahms & MacMillan
The November issue of Gramophone features a great review for the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s Brahms: Symphony No. 4 & MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra: “This latest release presents subtly incendiary Brahms alongside an utterance of radically different stripe. … The main work transmits an impression of interpretative renewal. Though capable of cushioned ‘European’ warmth, the Pittsburgh Symphony has a cleaner, brighter edge than traditionally associated with big-band Brahms.… As ever articulation is precisely honed,…
Culture Spot LA Reviews Brahms & MacMillan
Henry Schlinger reviews Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s Brahms: Symphony No. 4 and MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra in Culture Spot LA: “Opening and listening to a new CD by Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is always exciting because although I never know exactly how Honeck will interpret a work, especially a warhorse that has been recorded too many times to count, I know there will be some surprises. In the PSO’s latest recording of…
New York Times Names Pittsburgh Symphony’s Brahms And MacMillan as a Must Hear
The New York Times has just published a list of “Five Classical Albums to Hear Right Now” and number one on the list is the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck’s Brahms: Symphony No. 4 and MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra! “these forces have been setting new standards in the standards, their records combining astonishing playing… Right on cue, their new album offers James MacMillan’s gnarly-to-seraphic Larghetto for Orchestra, atmospherically adapted from his choral “Miserere” for its premiere in…
CVNA Hails Pittsburgh Symphony’s Brahms & MacMillan as a Spectacular Achievement
Classical Voice North America has a new rave review for the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s recording of Brahms: Symphony No. 4 and James MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra: “Honeck begins Brahms’ Fourth Symphony by lingering on the upbeat, emphasizing the way the first two notes can sound like a sigh. Those two notes are immediately inverted, so goodbye temporarily to the sigh, but Honeck’s rhetorical gesture establishes a certain wistfulness characteristic of Brahms’ first two…
Pittsburgh Symphony’s Brahms & MacMillan is “Top Notch”
The Classical Music Sentinel reviews Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s Brahms: Symphony No. 4 & James MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra recording: “In the beautiful [Symphony No. 4] Andante moderato… Honeck’s focus and attention are diverted to the charm of the orchestration. The lush string writing around the 8:00 minute mark, and the many fine moments in which the Pittsburgh woodwind section shines through. The boisterous and ebullient character of the following movement is well projected in…
Audiophile Audition Gives Five Stars to Manfred Honeck and Pittsburgh Symphony’s Brahms & MacMillan Album!
Audiophile Audition critic Steven Ritter gives a five-star review to Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Brahms: Symphony No. 4; MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra recording: “Certainly, the last movement of the Fourth Symphony is the orchestral pinnacle of the age in relation to the variation form. … It is this last movement to which the entire symphony is directed, and its success depends on how well the previous movements are balanced. … Many conductors…
Stereophile Review for Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Stephen Francis gives 4.5 Stars to Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s recording of Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in Stereophile: “From Reference Recordings, we can count on pellucid sonics, including here. You can “hear through” the textures even in the most violent tuttis, with no trace of congestion. In the finale’s “recitatives,” the divided low strings are wonderfully enveloping. The Adagio‘s airy woodwind chorales are almost tangible. …The music, guided by the conductor’s sharp ear, is…
American Record Guide Review for Beethoven Symphony No. 9
American Record Guide‘s Gil French has a thorough review of his multiple listens through Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven Symphony No. 9 recording: “the riches, most superbly tuned strings basses I have heard since Joseph Guastafeste led the Chicago Symphony’s string bass section (1961-2011) and better recorded as well! When the entire orchestra joins in [in the Finale], their phrasing reflects the words mentally engrained in anyone familiar with the text. Continue…