Archive for San Francisco Ballet Orchestra – Page 3
Bizet’s Symphony in C Major
Continuing our “inside” look at the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra’s Bizet recording, we turn to Victor and Marina Ledin’s liner notes on the Symphony in C Major. Bizet’s Symphony in C Major In 1855, at 17, while at the Paris Conservatoire, Bizet composed Symphony in C Major as a school exercise. The work shows traces of Schubert and Rossini, revealing the individuality of a man with a rare gift for melody and an instinctive grasp…
An Inside Look at Bizet
An “inside” look at our San Francisco Ballet Orchestra Bizet recording courtesy of the liner notes by Victor and Marina Ledin. Bizet Bizet lived 36 years, dying three months after the production of Carmen. Biographers recount that having walked the streets of Paris after the first night his opera premiered, Bizet mourned the failure of his Carmen, so disillusioned, he retired to his home to die of a broken heart. Not quite true. Carmen received…
Dance Commentary Reviews New Bizet Recording
Noted Bay Area dance critic, Heather Desaulniers, offered a wonderful review of our first San Francisco Ballet Orchestra recording (Delibes), and has just published a new review for the latest Bizet recording on her Dance Commentary blog: “Thanks to Reference Recordings, Bay Area balletomanes can visit the ballet anytime they wish, even in the off-season. Their most recent release features three scores by Georges Bizet – Symphony in C, Jeux d’Enfants and Variations Chromatiques –…
Radio, Radio — Many Stations Are Spinning Bizet!
A look at some reason radio highlights of stations sharing our new San Francisco Ballet Orchestra Bizet release: Capital Public Radio Classical music host Kent Teeters talks variations and re-interpretations and includes the new Bizet release in his queue. Listen to the whole segment, or jump to the 10:00 mark for the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra highlight below: 98.7 WFMT FM Lisa Flynn’s New Releases features the Bizet release as well! “This superb new orchestral…
KUHA FM Houston Reviews San Francisco Ballet Orchestra Bizet Recording
Houston’s 91.7 KUHA FM has a new review from their music librarian Chris Hathaway for our new Bizet recording featuring the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. “Martin West continues to show his conductorial prowess, and proves that his orchestra is a first-rate ensemble, with this handsome all-Bizet disc. …Balance and pacing are the key to handling this symphony, and West does not fall short of these. The slow movement, full of balance problems — notably, the…
Classical Candor Celebrates Bizet Release
John J. Puccio of Classical Candor calls our newest San Francisco Ballet Orchestra Bizet release a “delight” and a “special occasion”: “Thus, it is a delight to welcome this latest RR entry into the catalogue, the music of French composer Georges Bizet (1838-1875), performed by Martin West and the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. … [West] brings the light, delicate touch of the ballet conductor with him, always exercising a spring in his step, a lilt…
October Releases available for Pre-Order
Two October Releases Now Available for Pre-Order on ReferenceRecordings.com! BIZET Symphony in C; Jeux d’Enfants; Variations chromatiques San Francisco Ballet Orchestra Martin West, conductor Reference Recordings is proud to present these works of Georges Bizet, beautifully performed by the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, conducted by Martin West. The recording was made at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, California by Grammy-winning engineer Keith O. Johnson. Pre-Order Today! Charles Denler’s Portraits of Colorado An American Symphony No.…
Audiophilia With a Rave Pre-Release Review for Bizet
Anthony Kershaw has a new review for our upcoming Bizet release from the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra: “The recording, sourced at Skywalker Studios, is much like the SF Ballet’s previous CD release. As such, it’s yet another gem from Keith Johnson and his team. No matter where the recording is sourced, Johnson manages to snag the Reference ‘house’ sound. Meaning, incredibly defined bass, beautiful separation of instruments (listen to the flute and violin unison in…
Audiophile Audition With A Four-Star Bizet Pre-Release Review
Audiophile Audition has a new four-star review of upcoming San Francisco Ballet Orchestra release Bizet: “These three works of Bizet are all well-performed, and two of them are completely unique. … The Variations chromatiques here receives its CD premiere. It was inspired by Beethoven’s 32 Variations in c, and is a dramatic set of 14 variations for piano, with the theme mostly unaltered thru all of them. It is considered the composer’s most significant piano…
Coming Soon!
Get a glimpse of what’s coming in September: Bizet: Symphony in C; Jeux d’Enfants; Variations Chromatiques San Francisco Ballet Orchestra conducted by Martin West RR-131 Charles Denler: Portraits of Colorado, An American Symphony No. 1; Six Variations for violin and piano Colorado Symphony and Chorus; Scott o’Neil, conductor; Duane Wolfe, Chorus Director; FR-706 And another tease for October…
Now Available for the first time – Full HRx Downloads!
Five Full HRx Albums now available for download on HDtracks! Now Available as 176.4 kHz / 24-bit downloads: Elgar: Enigma Variations/Vaughan Williams: The Wasps, Greensleeves – San Francisco Ballet Orchestra “The finale is extremely impressive, aided by state-of-the-art sonics that offer the finest integration of organ and orchestra.” – Classics Today “This new recording engineered by Keith Johnson is typical of the Professor’s natural sound, accorded transparency and depth.” – Audiophilia Conductor Michael Stern leads…
Delibes Reviews Pour in over the weekend
Reviews for the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra’s Delibes: Sylvia/Coppélia came pouring in over the weekend! Check out a few quotes below: Gramophone: “…This pairing of suites from the composer’s ballets by the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, the first and still arguably best-standing ballet orchestra in the US, avoids both extremes. Under current music director Martin West, the orchestra revels in the immediacy of the music without ever losing sight of the overall narrative. So too…
WQXR features Delibes: Sylvia and Coppelia
The newest RR release Delibes: Sylvia & Coppelia featuring the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra was featured as the WQXR “Album of the Week.” From Sunday, April 29 through the first week of May, WQXR featured Sylvia & Coppelia as a part of their weekly spotlight on compelling new recordings. From WQXR: “We at WQXR don’t encounter too many recordings by ballet orchestras…The oldest professional ballet company in America, [San Francisco Ballet] is also one of…
RR Radio – Sylvia/Coppelia Sampler Pack
Still don’t have the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra release Delibes: Sylvia/Coppélia? Well now you can get the ultimate preview via the new RR Radio Sampler Pack: DELIBES Sylvia/Coppélia Martin WestSan Francisco Ballet OrchestraExtended Suites From the Ballets RR-125HDCD “… what charm, what wealth of melody!” —Tchaikovsky on Delibes Leo Delibes’ COPPÉLIA is pure delight, a feast of musicality and humor for all ages. Probably the greatest ballet comedy ever written! On this disc we also…
Positive Feedback reviews Sylvia & Coppelia
New release Delibes: Sylvia/Coppélia (released 3/13) gets some positive feedback from Positive Feedback! “The beautifully full and rich or ripe Keith Johnson recording will please most music lovers with not even a hint of harshness or distortion to be heard…there will be no complaints with that impressive and clearly solid deep bass response. Orchestral performance is quite excellent…my recommendation is for all, including newcomers to classical music.” —Karl Lozier, Positive Feedback Read the full review…