Enjoy The Music enjoys the new Pittsburgh Symphony Dvořák & Janáček
Enjoy The Music‘s Joe Milicia reviews the new Pittsburgh Symphony Dvořák & Janáček SACD and gives it a 5/5 rating for Performance and Recording Quality! “It would be great to have more program notes like the one in Reference Recordings’ new Pittsburgh Symphony release, with the conductor commenting in detail on his own interpretation of the music. … On a first hearing I found the performance overall to be consistently interesting but a bit studied—”carefully”…
ArkivMusic Customer Calls New Pittsburgh Symphony SACD a “Must Hear”
Manfred HoneckCredit: Felix Broede ArkivMusic.com and its customers are excited about the new Pittsburgh Symphony Dvořák & Janáček SACD! Not only is it a “Recommended“ recording, and an Arkiv “Drilldown” #1 SACD recording, it’s also got listeners singing its praises: “…a remarkable melding of artistic vision from conductor Manfred Honeck and virtuoso execution from the Pittsburgh musicians. Honeck deftly brings out Dvorak’s uniquely Czech character from the score, highlighting key passages with flexible dynamics, tempi,…
The Arts Desk Says Dvořák & Janáček is “Beyond Criticism”
The Arts Desk‘s Graham Rickson has a new rave for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck’s latest FRESH! From Reference Recordings SACD: “Dvořák’s…Eighth [symphony] is the most radical, and Manfred Honeck’s remarkable performance highlights its originality in some style. …[Honeck] justifies every interpretive decision in his sleeve notes, and the musical results are pretty special. … What follows is electrifying – an exuberant adrenalin rush… Reach the close, and you’ll hopefully be awestruck. Cheap…
BBC Music Magazine Gives Five Stars to Pittsburgh Symphony’s “Strauss”
BBC Music Magazine gives the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Strauss recording five stars! “Manfred Honeck’s interpretations have huge personality, and mostly in the right way. … The poetry is intense, yielding in Don Juan the most beautiful oboe cantilena ever. … The orchestra plays passionately and luminously, with the brass thrusting when they need to be. … the recorded Strauss celebrations are going well in 150th-anniversary year.” —David Nice, BBC Music Magazine Read the full review on…
The Pittsburgh Symphony Gets Five Stars from Audiophile Audition
Critic Steven Ritter says the new Pittsburgh Symphony recording is “Interpretatively and sonically, this is one of the best releases of the Dvorak 8th I have ever heard.” in a new Five-Star Review: “This album only confirms the fact that the Pittsburgh Symphony, always one of America’s greatest and most underrated orchestras, now tops the list in both interpretative finesse and recorded sound. … Phrasing is perfect; he lingers some places where others may not,…
MusicWeb International Says Miraculous Metamorphoses is “Well Worth Hearing”
MusicWeb International‘s John Quinn has a new review for the Kansas City Symphony’s Miraculous Metamorphoses recording: “Stern has selected a challenging and exciting programme.… Stern and his players put the music across with dash and no little brilliance. This [Hindemith] score has been a favourite of mine ever since I first encountered it through Abbado’s Decca recording over forty years ago. I enjoyed this Kansas performance very much. … There’s much to admire in the…
Classical Candor Reviews Dvořák and Janáček
Classical Candor‘s John J. Puccio has a new review for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s new Dvořák & Janáček SACD: “This new rendering of [Dvořák] No. 8 by Manfred Honeck and his Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on a live Reference Recordings Fresh! hybrid SACD stacks up pretty well. … There is great exuberance in the conductor’s handling of the various themes, while the sounds of nature, like the birdsong of the flute, create a truly sweet atmosphere.…
ClassicsToday gives top scores to the new Pittsburgh Symphony SACD!
ClassicsToday gives a 10/10 for Artistic Quality and a 10/10 for Sound Quality to the new Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Dvořák & Janáček recording, hailing it as “Honeck’s Incandescent Dvořák 8th!” “There are few things more wonderful in the life of a record collector than a really great recording of a repertory warhorse. … along comes a performance by a conductor who loves the music, who has genuine ideas about how it should go and what…
Pizzicato Magazine with a Rave for the Pittsburgh Symphony!
Luxemburg’s Pizzicato Magazine has a new rave review for the Pittsburgh Symphony and their new Dvořák and Janáček recording: “This is one of the most gripping performances of Dvořák’s 8th Symphony that I ever heard. Honeck and Pittsburgh excel themselves and definitely team up to one of those great partnerships like Solti and Chicago, Ozawa and Boston, Bernstein and New York, Szell and Cleveland, Tilson-Thomas and San Francisco.” —Alain Steffen, Pizzicato Read the full review…
#Throwback Thursday — The Curios “Cherries on the Ground”
With the recent surge in FRESH! From Reference Recordings releases including two from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Roberto Moronn Pérez, and The Banner Saga Soundtrack, here’s a #ThrowbackThursday post to our first of the FRESH! Releases — The Curios: Pillow Book! Order Today!
“You won’t be disappointed” with the New Pittsburgh Sympony SACD
Film music critic, Thomas Kiefner says “You won’t be disappointed” with the new Pittsburgh Symphony Dvořák/Janáček SACD: “One of the keys to the success of this recording is the superior sound which you’ll best hear in SACD… When I played it through my stereo system the result was nothing short of spectacular. Yes you’ll hear the occasional rustling of the papers and a stray cough but at least to me I didn’t find it distracting…
RR at the California Audio Show
In just over a month, Reference Recordings will be at the San Francisco California Audio Show. Get your tickets now and come say hello! From www.caaudioshow.com: Welcome to the 2014 California Audio Show, our 5th year in the world famous San Francisco Bay Area, also home to Silicon Valley. Our show is now in its fifth year! Come experience the mesmerizing sounds and audio equipment presented by over 60 Exhibitors in 50 rooms. You’ll be…
Gramophone Reviews Kansas City Symphony’s Miraculous Metamorphoses
Gramophone Magazine’s July Issue of “Sounds of America” features the Kansas City Symphony and their latest release, Miraculous Metamorphoses: “The Kansas City Symphony have been on a roll with Michael Stern…[Miraculous Metamorphoses] are works that provide conductor and musicians with a spectrum of atmospheres and colours into which they can sink their respective teeth. Stern and his orchestra do so to captivating effect, without resorting to sonic exaggeration. … Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of…
Audiophilia Recommends New Pittsburgh Symphony SACD
Audiophilia recommends the new Pittsburgh Symphony Dvořák/Janáček recording in their July Recommended New Releases: “Here, under a warm Bohemian sun, the Pittsburgers and their man have scored a home run. … And, though the opera Jenůfa is about child loss and redemption, conductor Honeck’s ‘conceptualization’ of the opera’s themes into a ‘Suite’ makes for very enjoyable listening. The pathos is there but with such wonderful and infectious rhythms, it’s hard to feel down. … Taken…
Now Available — The Pittsburgh Symphony: Dvořák & Janáček!
Dvořák • Janáček Manfred Honeck Pittsburgh Symphony OrchestraFR-710 SACD Antonin Dvořák Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 Leoš Janáček Symphonic Suite from “Jenůfa”(Conceptualized by Manfred Honeck, realized by Tomáš Ille) Thrilling Live Performances From The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, In Brilliant Audiophile Sound! This release is the second in the “Pittsburgh Live!” series of multi-channel hybrid SACD releases on the FRESH! series from Reference Recordings. For more than 116 years, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra…