Archive for ShostakovichBarber
The Pittsburgh Symphony has entered a “golden era”
Audiophile Voice magazine reviews Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony‘s GRAMMY®-winning Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio for Strings recording in their latest issue: “The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra appears to have entered another golden era under the leadership of Manfred Honeck and its association with Reference Recordings. … The sound is open and expansive with a realistic sense of place and space. You can hear details that might easily be submerged for concerts goers but…
Copper Magazine Reviews Pittsburgh Symphony’s Shostakovich/Barber
Critic Lawrence Schenbeck offers his top 2017 releases in PSAudio’s Copper Magazine and features Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s new Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio for strings recording: “I’ve grievously neglected the fine work done by Honeck in Pittsburgh, a neglect made more shameful because of Soundmirror’s crucial contribution. Whenever I sit down to hear one of these albums, I am drawn closer to the immediacy of live performance than with any other…
Gramophone Reviews the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Shostakovich and Barber Recording
Gramophone Magazine has a new review for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck’s Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber Adagio for Strings recording in the February 2018 issue: “Manfred Honeck seems intent on wringing every last drop of drama from the symphony in this live recording. He seizes upon the first movement’s stark juxtapositions. Rhythms in the jagged opening phrases are razor-sharp and urgently dispatched … then the pace eases as the mood becomes more…
And the GRAMMY Goes To…
Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s “Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber Adagio” recording wins TWO 2018 GRAMMY® Awards for Best Orchestral Performance AND Best Engineered, Classical! Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Manfred Honeck, Music Director Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 and Barber Adagio for Strings Order Now Reference Recordings proudly presents these two beloved works in definitive interpretations from Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, in superb audiophile sound. This release is the seventh in the…
NativeDSD review for Pittsburgh Symphony’s Shostakovich
John Huxhold and Eric Meyer review the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck Shostakovich/Barber recording in the new NativeDSD reviews blog, “Call For Reviewers”: “Manfred Honeck is making a name for himself and his Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for his carefully considered and nuanced approach to the music of Richard Strauss and, in this case, the Shostakovich 5th. The high, quiet strings in the first movement float serenely above a low bass; the second movement is slower…
American Record Guide Reviews Shostakovich and Barber
The January/February 2018 issue of American Record Guide features a new review for Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio for Strings recording: “Manfred Honeck has…drawn on Shostakovich’s life and experiences for his interpretation fo the Fifth. Honeck does not ‘rewrite’ the piece, but he does adapt interpretive points to what he believes the muic is saying or depicting. The result is one of the more interesting performances of the…
Four Stars for Shostakovich & Barber from BBC Magazine
Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck‘s Shostakovich/Barber receives ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ performance and ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ recording ratings from BBC Music Magazine: “Manfred Honeck’s Shostakovich sounds magnificent. From intense pianissimos to the shrieking upper register and full bass thwack of a grand peroration…there’s faith in what can sometimes seem like a time-serving symphony. … the scherzo is writ huge, like Mahler on steroids, cellos and basses digging in at the start; the finale has all the trenchancy it needs… [the…
Utah Symphony and Pittsburgh Symphony Receive Positive Feedback Award
We’re happy to be share that our latest recordings with the Utah and Pittsburgh Symphonies have been honored with a 2017 “Brutus Award” from audiophile magazine, Positive Feedback! “Reference Recordings has been a primo name among audiophile labels for many years now. I …was particularly struck by the Thierry Fischer/Utah Symphony/Mormon Tabernacle Choir Mahler 8. Recorded and mastered by the brilliant production and engineering team at Soundmirror, this SACD shines wonderfully. “My praise must be…
Shostakovich/Barber a MusicWeb Recording of the Year
Add MusicWeb International Recording of the Year to the growing list of accolades for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio recording! “I find this interpretation of a so familiar symphony to be as convincing as it is revelatory. The Pittsburgh Symphony show themselves to be in inspired and virtuosic form under conductor Manfred Honeck who makes unconventional but inspired interpretative choices. Reference Recordings provide a recording of superb…
Pittsburgh’s Shostakovich Makes the Forbes Best of 2017
Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony‘s Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio recording makes the Forbes Best Classical Recordings of 2017 list! “[Manfred Honeck] interprets – he even anthropomorphizes the music. It works! The music comes alive in uncanny ways. I’m wary of interpreting too much into composers and their works, especially Shostakovich. … Honeck’s profound empathizing with the music – equally obvious from his own, extensive liner notes – denotes a passionate, detail-happy, and…
Manfred Honeck has the Pittsburgh Symphony in Fine Form
MusicWeb International critic, Michael Cookson, offers high praise for Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony‘s Barber: Adagio recording: “Samuel Barber’s renowned Adagio for Strings is his best-known work an arrangement for string orchestra from the second movement of his 1936 String Quartet, Op. 11. … In one of the finest performances I have heard, Honeck ensures the Adagio for Strings is played with an affecting vulnerability maintaining the emotional tension in the writing at an…
FOUR 2018 GRAMMY Nominations!
The Recording Academy announced their 60th GRAMMY® Award Nominations this morning, and Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony‘s Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio and Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony‘s recording of Adam Schoenberg’s Orchestral Music have both received multiple nominations! Best Engineered Album, Classical Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio – Mark Donahue, engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) Schoenberg, Adam: American Symphony; Finding Rothko; Picture Studies – Keith O. Johnson…
Pittsburgh Symphony Nominated for ICMA
Order Now The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck recording of Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 and Barber’s Adagio for Strings has been nominated for the 2018 International Classical Music Awards in the “Symphonic Music” category! The ICMA – having taken the place of the Cannes Classical Awards (later known as MIDEM) – first awarded prizes in 2011, and has since taken its place as the leading pan-European competition for excellence in classical recording. Its jury…
The Best Shostakovich 5 of the Century
Order Now Kalman Rubinson has an absolute rave review for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck‘s Shostakovich & Barber recording in the November 2017 issue of Stereophile Magazine: “I eagerly await every new Reference Fresh! release from Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Each has been an artistic and sonic delight, and this one is no exception. The PSO is a magnificent, world-class orchestra, Honeck is a mature and innovative leader, and through…
AllMusic Highly Recommends Shostakovich Barber
Order Now AllMusic rates the new Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio recording a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ rating: “… an excellent contribution to the Shostakovich discography, even in the face of all the other versions of this work on the market. … masterful, deliberate, but never plodding performance by Honeck, with the Pittsburgh brasses sounding as good as they have in years. The Barber Adagio for Strings is an inspired note…