We are thrilled to share that the International Classical Music Awards have nominated two of our recordings in the 2023 ICMAs! The final result with all winners will be announced on January 18, 2023, and the Award Ceremony and Gala concert will take place in Wrocław, Poland on April 21, hosted by the NFM Philharmonic. Nominations Symphonic Music Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Contemporary Music Martin West & the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Steven Ritter gives four stars to San Francisco Ballet Orchestra’s recording of Lowell Liebermann: Frankenstein in Audiophile Audition: “The San Francisco Ballet Orchestra plays wonderfully with great tone, exemplary dynamic range and a genuine sensitivity to the changes in color and emotion found in this work, which are considerable. The recording is superb—everything is captured on the broadest of sound stages with great depth and presence. Musically, the piece is extraordinary, tuneful, full of expression,…
“the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra play with a ravishing warmth. Clearly the orchestra has been well rehearsed. The brass playing is monumentally precision perfect; Liebermann’s music… is of extraordinary complexity. This is an especially densely written ballet in places in others it is quite the opposite, open to making orchestral players feel very exposed – and yet the orchestral playing is brilliant enough that details emerge with astonishing clarity. Those great sweeping string passages at…
AllMusic‘s James Manheim gives the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra’s recording of Lowell Liebermann: Frankenstein a four-star review and recommendation: “This recording was made live in 2018 and marked the U.S. premiere in San Francisco, featuring the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra under conductor Martin West, and it is to be recommended for the live atmosphere alone. A good deal of enthusiastic applause is retained, and the audiophile engineering staff at Reference Recordings proves itself as able in live recording…
Textura Magazine reviews the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra’s recording of Lowell Liebermann: Frankenstein: “San Francisco Ballet Orchestra does a splendid job of rendering Liebermann’s score. As a live recording of the ballet production, stage noises, including the dancers’ steps, and a cough or two are sometimes audible, but they merely add to the live character of the event. … Liebermann’s score…memorably shifts between lyricism and anguish as the story alternates between scenes of the family and…
Martin West and San Francisco Ballet Orchestra’s Lowell Liebermann: Frankenstein recording gets a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review from Remy Frank’s Pizzicato Magazine: “Lowell Liebermann’s score has a distinctly visual, plot-driven and dramatic character, and is absolutely brilliantly orchestrated, so that it is a great pleasure to hear this imaginative, colorful and richly ornamented music, pleasantly rich in movement. The distinctive themes for the acting characters and the descriptive music make it easy to follow the action purely…
Gerald Fenech has Martin West and the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra’s new recording of Lowell Liebermann: Frankenstein in the Classical Music Daily Spotlight: “Liebermann and [Liam] Scarlett have created a truly modern three-Act masterpiece that keeps you rooted to your seat. The choreography by Scarlett has come in for high praise, but the music is terrific, and it is this element that concerns us here. Indeed, Liebermann’s inspirational vein shines from beginning to end, and…
Fanfare Archive’s David DeBoor Canfield has declared the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and Martin West’s Lowell Liebermann: Frankenstein recording “Not To Be Missed”: “The orchestra plays magnificently under the well-paced leadership of Martin West. Given its live provenance, I expected to hear much more in the way of stage noise occasioned by leaping dancers, but there was very little, and certainly nowhere near enough to detract from my enjoyment of the performance. The sonics on…
Order Now “As another San Francisco Ballet season draws to a close, it’s a good time to turn the spotlight on the magnificent SF Ballet Orchestra, led by music director Martin West, which plays such a vital role in the success of the Company’s performances. Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, this Grammy Award-winning ensemble, under West’s direction, has recently released a delightful album of music by Moritz Moszkowski (1854 -1925), entitled From Foreign Lands. ……
Gramophone Magazine reviews San Francisco Ballet Orchestra’s Moszkowski: From Foreign Lands recording in the November 2016 issue: “Why concert promoters and record labels have such trouble with Moszkowski I’ll never know, especially his once-celebrated orchestral music. For instance, not a single item from this disc ever featured in the BBC’s wide-ranging, inclusive Proms, with the exception of the work that made Moszkowski’s fortune, the five Spanish Dances, Op. 2…it is a pleasure…to have the repertoire…
The San Francisco Ballet Orchestra’s new Moszkowski: From Foreign Lands recording has been getting a lot of attention on the radio this month: WFMT “Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1925) is best known for his piano works. He also composed an opera, a full-length ballet, three orchestra suites, a symphony, songs, concertos and chamber music – almost all of which remain neglected or forgotten. The San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and Martin West have assembled an intriguing program of…
“Martin West and his excellent San Francisco Ballet Orchestra[‘s]… affable and lively performances, always well played, fall very happily on the ear, and the sound is superb. … the programme is well worth hearing, especially the polonaise-style Torch Dance, Habanera, Six Airs de Ballet and the Gondoliera, all of which are here given their world première recordings. And what to expect, musically? Think of the lighter side of Elgar and that will give you some…
“Most of this material is lightweight, to be sure, yet it’s also most delightful in the capable hands of West and his players. The opening “Torch Dance” has a rousing spirit. The six movements of “From Foreign Lands” are colorful and characterful, each exemplifying a different country. They reminded me of things by maybe Glazunov, Gounod, or Rimsky-Korsakov. In their time (the late nineteenth century), the “Foreign Lands” suite was apparently quite famous, although today…
“These are memorable and melodious orchestral compositions which, especially in their full orchestra versions, seem much more than mere salon pieces from the 19th century. The opening Torch Dance is based on a tradition at some German weddings in a certain area of a dance with torches featured. The From Foreign Lands is a nearly half-hour suite which has been a San Francisco Ballet performance. This ballet orchestra is one of the leading ones in…
“First off, Moszkowski’s music is delightful. Expertly composed and beautifully arranged for full symphony orchestra. If you like orchestral music with both froth and depth, then this CD’s repertoire is for you. … Percussion is highlighted throughout the CD and the section is spectacularly recorded by Reference. Sure, the loud is good, but the micro dynamics of the cymbals, castanets and bass drum are just brilliant. … As a first class ballet orchestra, the players…
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7; Bates: Resurrexit
Mark Donahue & John Newton, engineers; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)