The family review site, InfoDad reviews Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 recording and finds it “revelatory”:
“Even music that is familiar and has frequently been recorded can sometimes come across as fresh and new when performances are sufficiently revelatory – as is Manfred Honeck’s of Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Not since the days of William Steinberg has this orchestra sounded so warm, full, and emotionally evocative – thanks in part to the superb quality of the Reference Recordings audio, but also to Honeck’s outstanding direction: he seems determined to have the Pittsburgh players sound as good as members of the very best European orchestras, and in this case he has succeeded brilliantly. Indeed, the Pittsburgh Symphony could easily be mistaken for one of the great German or Austrian orchestras here: it has the full, rich, sumptuous sound, the superb balance of sections, the sense that every player is a virtuoso lending his or her particular expertise to the group, plus the warmth-with-precision that only the very best orchestras attain… Honeck erects a monumental musical edifice that is wholly convincing even for listeners who have not the slightest idea of how and why Honeck conducts the music this way. This is a breathtaking performance… and it is one against which all recent readings of the first three movements of the Ninth can be measured.”
—InfoDad
See the full review on InfoDad
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