Stephen Francis gives 4.5 Stars to Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s recording of Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in Stereophile:
“From Reference Recordings, we can count on pellucid sonics, including here. You can “hear through” the textures even in the most violent tuttis, with no trace of congestion. In the finale’s “recitatives,” the divided low strings are wonderfully enveloping. The Adagio‘s airy woodwind chorales are almost tangible. …The music, guided by the conductor’s sharp ear, is attentively shaped and graded—the double fugue is impeccably balanced—and emerges in a broad, inexorable arc. … The soloists are good. The orchestra is responsive and alert. The midrange strings are burnished yet clear. Brass interjections are rhythmically acute.”
Stereophile.com
—Stephen Francis Vasta, Stereophile