Dvořák & Janáček SACD Gets Fanfare Review
Fanfare Magazine says Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Dvořák & Janáček SACD joins highest ranks: “What lifts this reading high enough to join the excellent ones one might name from the past (Walter, Kubelík, Kertész, Szell, Giulini, Tennstedt—the list is long) is that Honeck follows through with musical gestures that match all the points he makes in his notes. … Care is lavished on the details of a score that, frankly, is thrice-familiar…
Strauss a MusicWeb International 2014 Record of the Year
MusicWeb International has released their critics nominations for Record of the Year and of the 141 nominations, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Strauss was one of only eight recordings that received two nominations from critics! “…there is excitement, drama and romance aplenty served in top notch sound. For me this recording joins the best.” —Ian Lace “When the horns cut loose in Don Juan, halfway through and near the end, it feels like you’ve been strapped…
Classical Music Sentinel Gives Organ Polychrome a Rave!
Fantastic new review for Jan … Organ Polychrome recording in the Classical Music Sentinel: “In this day and age of bits and bytes, midi files, miniaturization, computerization, digital sound creation and manipulation, and everything synthetic and disposable, it certainly is comforting to know that magnificent pipe organs like this Casavant Frères Opus 3875, 2011 located in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri, are still being built. … if you have…
Doug MacLeod Named Top International Artist
The Blues Matters Magazine has released its 2014 Writer’s Poll, and Doug MacLeod came in as their #3 International Solo Artist! Congratulations to Doug!
Robert Moore “Outta My Soul” Concert Photos
Some photos from the sold out/standing room only Bijou Cafe performance of Robert Moore’s new “Outta My Soul” recording in Portland on Friday night! Post by Reference Recordings.
Weekend News Bits — Joel Fan, Robert Moore, Nadia Shpachenko
Kick off your weekend with these news bits from our recent releases: Joel Fan: Dances For Piano and Orchestra WFMT’s Lisa Flynn Features Dances for Piano And Orchestra: By far the most familiar genre of music for piano and orchestra is the piano concerto. What the seven works gathered on this new CD demonstrate is that the formal concerto is by no means the only way of treating the instrumental combination. Joel Fan, recognized for…
Pittsburgh Symphony Strauss Nominated for 2015 ICMA!
The International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) has officially announced the 2015 nominees, and our Strauss SACD featuring Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has been nominated in the Symphonic Music category! The ICMA (previously known as the Cannes Classical Awards and the MIDEM Classical Music Awards) first began awarding prizes in 2011. Awards and nominations are decided by a jury of 16 distinguished classical critics and broadcasters representing countries from across Europe and beyond.…
Austin Wintory Conducts The Banner Saga
Austin Wintory conducts the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in The Banner Saga: The Banner Saga Austin Wintory, composer The Dallas Wind Symphony Maluka and Peter Hollens, vocals; Taylor Davis, violin GRAMMY®-nominated,*BAFTA-winning composer Austin Wintory created an earthy, multi-layered orchestral score for the single player role-playing tactical game from Stoic Studios, currently available on PC and Mac. The soundtrack score features the Dallas Winds (America’s Premier Windband), recorded by GRAMMY-winning engineer Keith O. Johnson and the Reference…
Pittsburgh Symphony Dvořák & Janáček Gets New York Times Feature
The New York Times “Classical Playlist” features the Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Dvořák & Janáček recording: “Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra have quietly become one of the country’s hottest partnerships in repertory staples, thereby invigorating and legitimizing the very idea of a canon. Mr. Honeck’s trademark flexible tempos, along with the spectacularly refined playing he draws, enliven this Dvorak war horse. A suite from Janacek’s “Jenufa,” conceived by Mr. Honeck and…
Here’s a #ThrowbackThursday look at the video from the Robert Moore Kickstarter campaign that led to this month’s FRESH! From Reference Recordings release, Outta My Soul! Outta My Soul Robert Moore FRESH! From Reference Recordings Buy NOW New to our Fresh! series is Robert Moore, jazz vocalist, composer, trumpet and harmonica player based in Portland. He has evolved a sound uniquely his own, mixing his Southern roots, influences of soul and gospel into his own…
Nadia Shpachenko performs Adam Schoenberg’s Miró’s World
Nadia Shpachenko performs Adam Schoenberg’s “Miró’s World” from “Picture Etudes for Solo Piano” Woman at the New Piano: American Music of 2013 Nadia Shpachenko World Premiere recordings of new works for piano, chamber instruments and electronics from 4 notable modern composers. Featuring Nadia Shpachenko-Gottesman: piano, percussion; with Genevieve Feiwen Lee: piano, toy piano, electronics The new works were composed as a celebration of a newly transformed world, for the new 5,125 year cycle of the…
Now Available — Woman at the New Piano: American Music of 2013!
Woman at the New Piano: American Music of 2013 Nadia Shpachenko World Premiere recordings of new works for piano, chamber instruments and electronics from 4 notable modern composers. Featuring Nadia Shpachenko-Gottesman: piano, percussion; with Genevieve Feiwen Lee: piano, toy piano, electronics The new works were composed as a celebration of a newly transformed world, for the new 5,125 year cycle of the Mayan Calendar- inspired by the happy fact that the world did NOT end…
Now Available — Robert Moore: Outta My Soul
Outta My Soul Robert Moore FRESH! From Reference Recordings “Outta My Soul leaves one moved in head, heart, hand and hind…” —Tim DuRoche New to our Fresh! series is Robert Moore, jazz vocalist, composer, trumpet and harmonica player based in Portland. He has evolved a sound uniquely his own, mixing his Southern roots, influences of soul and gospel into his own distinct interpretations of bebop and swinging jazz. Outta My Soul showcases six originals and…
MusicWeb International “Digs In” to Dances for Piano and Orchestra
MusicWeb International‘s Brian Reinhart “digs in” to Joel Fan and the Northwest Sinfonietta’s Dances for Piano and Orchestra recording: “For piano lovers, this CD is like an ice cream sundae, with hot fudge drizzle, Spanish peanuts, a ribbon of cream, and a booze-soaked cherry on top. It’s pure pleasure, first note to last, with a generous heaping of sugar … There’s even a Wedding Cake. … Pianist Joel Fan, who presumably herded this programme together,…
Remembering Harry Person, Jr.
From Reference Recordings founder John Tamblyn (“Tam”) Henderson on the passing of the Great HP, founder of The Absolute Sound magazine: Harry Pearson, Jr. Harry Pearson, Jr. (January 5, 1937 – November 4, 2014) It’s impossible to overestimate the importance of HP in the world of high end audio in the 1970s and ’80s. In fact, he invented the term, and some would say the industry known as the “high end.” Those of us who…