Reference Recordings is excited to announce five GRAMMY® Nominations for the 2019 GRAMMY® Awards!

John Williams At The Movies

Best Engineered, Classical & Best Classical Compendium

John Williams is a game changer. Early in his career he crossed the lines between music that was “art” and music that was “commercial,” and never looked back. He is one of the best known, most awarded and most successful composers in US history, and his name is inextricably connected to outstanding music for films. He has written scores for over 100 films, and his massive list of awards includes 51 Academy Award nominations and five wins, as well as 24 GRAMMY® awards. A less­-known fact is his fondness for writing, arranging and conducting wind band music. This collection of his film music includes favorites from Star Wars, Superman, JFK, ET and many more, arranged for concert performance by top­-level wind ensemble.

Beethoven: Symphony No. 3; Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1

Best Engineered, Classical & Best Orchestral Performance

Reference Recordings proudly presents these two iconic works in definitive interpretations from Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, in superb audiophile sound. This hybrid SACD release was recorded in beautiful and historic Heinz Hall, home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

In his fascinating and scholarly music notes, Maestro Honeck gives us insight into the history of both pieces, and describes how he conducts and interprets each. He reminds us that the “Eroica” was a bold departure from earlier symphonies, a “dance symphony with dramatic inventiveness, full of new elements that had never been heard before.” He quotes Beethoven’s student Ferdinand Ries, who wrote “Beethoven played recently for me (the “Eroica”) and I believe both heaven and earth must tremble when it is performed.” Honeck puts his own inimitable stamp on this interpretation, giving the listener a chance to experience the novelties of the “Eroica” as if hearing it for the very first time. William Caballero, Principal Horn of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and soloist on Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1, provides a thrilling and masterful performance of this youthful Strauss work.

Teach Me Thy Statutes

Best Choral Performance

We are very pleased to present our first release in a new series from the PaTRAM Institute. The music performed on this recording of Orthodox choral music in the Slavonic language was written by famed Russian composer Pavel Chesnokov (1877-1944). Teach me Thy Statutes is performed by the PaTRAM Institute Male Choir, a highly professional group which is a collaboration of Russian and American singers. The male choir is considered by many to be the mainstay of traditional chant and Orthodox monasticism. PaTRAM Institute Singers and Reference Recordings are planning several more CD releases over the next 5 years with Dr. Peter Jermihov as artistic director and conductor. Alexis Lukianov, Founder, Chairman and CEO of PaTRAM Institute states: “I am very pleased that PaTRAM Institute Singers has partnered with one of the top labels in the classical music industry. We are excited about our newest prospects and opportunities to produce and distribute world-­class orthodox liturgical music.”

More Nominations

Congratulations to Blanton Alspaugh, producer of Teach Me Thy Statutes and to Dirk Sobotka, producer of Beethoven: Symphony No. 3; Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1, and Mahler: Symphony No. 8. Both were nominated for Producer of the Year, Classical!