The Arts Fuse‘s Jonathan Blumhofer gives a warm recommendation to Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven & Stucky recording: “The Pittsburgher’s performance is nothing if not very well balanced and strongly colored. Solos short and long – for tuba, contrabassoon, and English horn, among them – are all well done. And the orchestra has clearly got a firm grasp on Stucky’s highly intellectual (but still accessible) personal style. … it’s forceful, well-written music and…
Gramophone Magazine has announced its 10 finalists for the 2022 Orchestra of the Year — the only one of its prestigious awards decided by the public — and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has made the list! “Nomination comes as a result of each ensemble impressing Gramophone’s editors and reviewers through its work on record, and all ten have released magnificent and often thought-provoking new albums over the past 12 months.” Vote now through Monday, September 7!…
HRAudio.net‘s Adrian Quanjer gives a five-star rating to Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 and Steven Stucky: “Silent Spring” recording: “Unfamiliar as I was with Silent Spring, in Honeck’s reading it unescapably got my immediate attention. Expressing in music what is barely possible to express in words. Around 15 minutes of awareness of the formidable complexities of nature is in itself already worth acquiring this release. … I have no…
Another “Recommended” distinction from a MusicWeb International Critic for Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Brahms & MacMillan release, and this time the spotlight shines on James MacMillan! “I really have to doff my hat to Reference Recordings, as well as to Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, for their commitment to programming and recording new music is genuinely admirable. … I have come across the music of MacMillan more than once in the past, both in…
Ralph Moore has a new rave review for Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Brahms: Symphony No. 4 and MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra recording: “From the way Honeck asks his orchestra to lean into the very first note, beseechingly and growing out of a whispered sigh, you know that this is a deeply thought out performance. Grand, stately, very “masculine” this recording is nonetheless lyrically flowing with its sights firmly set on the final…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…