A new symphonic tour-de-force from the Kansas City Symphony! This colorful, beloved English music has been captured in brilliant sound by GRAMMY®-winning engineer Keith O. Johnson. The Kansas City Symphony garnered tremendous critical acclaim for their first project on Reference Recordings, incidental music for The Tempest by Sullivan and Sibelius (Shakespeare's Tempest,RR-115). Their second release on RR, Britten’s Orchestra, received a GRAMMY for Best Surround Sound for the engineer and producer, as well as rave reviews everywhere!

This album is the first release in a 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. ‘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. This release was recorded in Russia in July of 2016 in the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian Orthodox Church at the Saratov Orthodox Theological Seminary. PaTRAM’s objective was to immerse the listener in the beautiful Russian monastic style of singing through its fullness and richness of sonority. Highly-esteemed conductor Maestro Vladimir Gorbik, whose pedigree is from the Moscow Conservatory and as choirmaster of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra Representation Choir, skillfully unites strong musicianship with superb diction to a degree that is seldom heard outside of Russia, but which epitomizes the best traditional culture of singing in the Russian Orthodox Church.

My first experience with the music of Aaron Copland was a Mercury Living Presence LP featuring Antal Dorati conducting the Minneapolis Symphony in El Salon Mexico, Rodeo, and Danzon Cubano. The exciting, original music, the powerful performances, and the hi-fi sound made this record a favorite of mine for many years. So it was with much anticipation that I approached this new collection by the Minnesota Orchestra under Eiji Oue. Would it revive that first thrill? Well, as in all of life, there's really only one first time, but this is one damn fine Copland disc. Beginning with an arresting Fanfare for the Common Man that reconfirms the piece as one of the 20th century's great works (you literally will stop whatever you're doing and pay strict attention), the program continues with a performance of Appalachian Spring that, while it doesn't take wing the way Copland's own peerless recording with the Boston Symphony on RCA does, still makes for a lovingly colloquial presentation.


And it doesn't stop there: the Minneapolis Copland tradition is maintained in the following marvelous performance of the Third Symphony. Oue keeps the contrasting and apposite styles of the work in balance, managing to sound raw and gutsy in the first movement and scherzo (with the brass really bringing on da' noise), but also poised and tender in the adagio and the more elegiac sections of the finale (which re-uses the Fanfare for the Common Man). And the sound! The power, the impact, the three dimensional image--it beats all the competition. Bernstein's highly personalized and idiosyncratic way with the Symphony still is my favorite, but this new disc easily could be anybody's first choice for a modern Copland collection.
--Victor Carr, ClassicsToday.com

". . . I have been waiting for this CD for over 40 years. . . There has never been a stereo recording of Copland's Third that approaches the concert-hall experience. Until now. This recording clearly has great value as a musical experience, but it also sets a new standard as a sonic showcase for a nearly impossible-to-record work." --Arthur B. Lintgen, THE ABSOLUTE SOUND

"Oue’s performances are shapely, tasteful, beautifully played, with a judicious balance of drama and restraint. The recorded sound is nothing short of awesome; you might want to obtain this CD just as an audio experience." –Peter Aczel, THE AUDIO CRITIC

"Eiji Oue is far more satisfying to my ears than Michael Tilson Thomas [in Copland's music]. The Minnesota Orchestra's tone isn't perhaps as glossy as the San Franciscans', but they and their conductor are more emotionally in tune with the music. The Third Symphony is first-rate in every way. This orchestra made the first recording of the Third with Atal Dorati for Mercury in 1953, and the piece still seems to be in the players' bones. A major Copland release." --Sedgwick Clark, GRAMOPHONE

"The Minnesota Orchestra plays wonderfully. Woodwind soloists and the concertmaster shine in 'Appalachian Spring', but the stars of this CD are the brasses who electrify in a way that brings to mind the Chicago Symphony's brass section in their heyday. Of course, a good recording is necessary to make this fully apparent . . . and my, what an exceptional-sounding disc this is. If you have just one vaguely audiophile bone in your body, this CD will be irresistible. RR has produced another winner." -- Andrew Quint, FANFARE

"This is a hi-fi lover's dream disc. That's what we expect from this label -- a production that shows what hi-fi performance is all about. As to the performances, you're in for another treat. The orchestra is as responsive and richly sonorous as you could ask for, with some expecially lovely wind playing in the symphony. Each of these performances can stand as a "reference." This one seems to have just about everything in place for maximum impact, especially the knockout sound."--David Vernier, STEREOPHILE

"A compelling performance of the Third Sympohony. I think this is among the best recordings since Bernstein -- and the sound is spectacular." --Peter Dickinson, GRAMOPHONE

"This is the best interpretation of the Copland Third in a generation, and the sound is Keith Johnson at his considerable best. That is to say, jaw-dropping and a revelation." --Harry Pearson, THE ABSOLUTE SOUND (Also listed in HP's Super CD List, Top 10)

Includes work(s) by various composers. Conductor: Jerry Junkin. Soloist: Mary Preston.

Great Performances, Great Sound, and a World Premiere! Reference Recordings proudly presents Symphony No. 4 of Johannes Brahms, with the world premiere recording of James MacMillan’s "Larghetto for Orchestra", in exceptional performances from Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. This release is the twelfth in the highly acclaimed Pittsburgh Live! series of multi-channel hybrid SACD releases from Reference Recordings. This series has received GRAMMY® Nominations in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Its recording of Shostakovich’s Symphony No.5 /Barber Adagio for Strings won the 2018 GRAMMY® Awards for Best Orchestral Performance and Best Engineered Classical Album.

REVIEW:

Theeeyyyyrrre Back! After some strangely wayward recordings of Beethoven’s Ninth and Tchaikovsky Fourth, Manfred Honeck is back on form in this new release of Brahms’ Fourth Symphony, demonstrating once again that it’s still possible to turn in characterful, personal interpretations of standard repertoire without the need to flirt with perversity. After a first movement outstanding for its exquisitely gentle (but still fluent) opening and an aptly ferocious coda, the remainder of the symphony is noteworthy for its unusual fleetness–no “autumnal” Brahms here! This approach pays big dividends in the ballad-like second movement, whose singing, legato melodies could have started to sag at a slower speed.

The third movement, too, has more of a “scherzando” character than it usually does, with the triangle blended into the texture rather than given concerto-style prominence. As a result, the finale has both urgency as well as the necessary weight. The famous flute solo at its center is played magnificently by Principal Flute Lorna McGhee, offering a quiet moment of pathos before Honeck drives the symphony to an excitingly grim conclusion. Through it all, the Pittsburgh Symphony plays the music as beautifully as it can be done. It’s worth noting that this same orchestra, under Marek Janowski, recorded a first-rate Brahms cycle of very different character not too long ago for PentaTone: more “classical,” far less self-consciously sculpted, but I wouldn’t part with either.

James MacMillan’s Larghetto for Orchestra is a Pittsburgh commission, an orchestral reworking of a choral setting of the Miserere text. As the title suggests, it’s a rather grave, prayerful piece, whose obvious vocal origins take the form of solemn chorales alternating with repeated-note melodies evocative of chant. It’s easy on the ear, but not especially memorable. Still, it works well as a “serious” coupling to a very serious symphony, and perhaps it will grow on me (and you). Superb engineering makes this new release especially welcome. A winner all around.

– ClassicsToday.com (10/10; David Hutwitz)

The technical skill and brilliance of the players have to be heard to be believed, and the multi-faceted, multi-colored, multi-dimensional tapestry of sound they produce on this amazing multi-channel, SACD recording is absolutely transfixing

– Fanfare

A New York Times 25 Best Classical Track Selection for 2019

Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra continue to amaze! Reference Recordings proudly presents this iconic work in a new and definitive interpretation from Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, in superb audiophile sound. This hybrid SACD release was recorded live in the beautiful and historic Heinz Hall, home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. As an important added feature, in his deeply personal and scholarly music notes, Maestro Honeck gives us great insight into the history and the musical structure of Bruckner’s final composition, and describes how he conducts and interprets this masterwork. This release and the entire Pittsburgh Live! series are recorded and mastered by the team at Soundmirror, Inc.

REVIEWS:

This is an amazing performance, captured in terrific sound. It’s the most savage Bruckner Ninth since Jochum’s Dresden recording on EMI, especially in the terrifying first-movement coda and the positively vicious, swift account of the scherzo. Honeck’s aided by typically exceptional brass playing, with horns, trumpets, and trombones well differentiated in timbre, their musical lines clear in even the densest tuttis. The strings, too, make gorgeous sounds in the first movement’s second-subject “song period,” and throughout the Adagio. In the latter, at that special moment when the chorale suddenly breaks in about halfway through, the effect is truly heavenly (but not a bit saccharine).

Still, what makes this recording so extraordinary is the conducting. Many conductors play Bruckner’s music as a succession of discrete blocks, which of course it is, and that’s certainly a legitimate way to do it. Honeck however, again like Jochum and certain others (Furtwängler, to some degree), employs a wide range of tempo within a movement to join the music’s various sections together; but so seamlessly does the music flow forward, and so skillfully does he manage the transitions, that you’re hardly conscious of them.

The timings are deceptive in this regard: 25 minutes in the first movement, nearly 28 in the Adagio, but I can’t recall a performance that so successfully suspends any feeling of time passing. It just “happens”, in such a way that when each movement stops you might find yourself shocked that the end has arrived, seemingly so punctually. For this reason, while Bruckner fans will certainly have to hear this, I can also recommend this release with equal enthusiasm to those who have hitherto found the composer clunky, sluggish, or dull. There’s an organic unity here that’s very special, and wholly unique.

-- ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz, 10/10)

This may well be Honeck and Pittsburgh's finest recording so far: breathtakingly intense, magnificently played, and unrelentingly fresh.

– New York Times (David Allen)

1999 GRAMMY NOMINATED; Best Engineered, Classical

1998 GOLDEN NOTE AWARD Best Original Recording


"This disc is, in short, a marvel. The Minnesota Orchestra outplays the Concertgebouw, and the recording really blows away all the competition." -- David Hurwitz, CD Finder online magazine

". . .The performance is massively authoritative. The playing of the Minnesota Orchestra should cause concern in those European centers that have traditionally claimed preëminence in Bruckner performance." -- Michael Jameson, Fanfare

". . . Sound that is about as good as it gets. The recording achieves the sound of a real orchestra in a specific auditorium. A new demonstration classic is born." -- Wes Phillips, Stereophile

Fiona Boyes plays deep Blues, influenced by a myriad of traditional regional styles. She has carved an international reputation as a blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, and American reviewers have described her as a 'musical anomaly' and 'Bonnie Raitt's evil twin'! Equally at home on acoustic or electric guitars, her mostly original repertoire is like a Blues travelogue. Listen to her play and you'll hear pre-war Delta slide, single chord Mississippi Hills grooves, intricate country blues finger picking along with material drawn from the classic blues sounds of New Orleans, Chicago and Memphis. Fiona continues to joyfully explore the music she loves with recent acquisitions such as cigarbox guitar and a rare ResoLectric Baritone adding new textures to her live shows and recordings. Reference Recordings is excited to announce the worldwide release of her brand new album - Box & Dice!

Reference Recordings is very pleased to present the third release in our series from the PaTRAM Institute, rising stars whose previous two albums on our label, Teach Me Thy Statutes (FR-727SACD) and The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (FR-731), have been honored with Grammy® nominations for Best Choral Performance. The music performed on this new recording of Russian Orthodox choral music comprises works of many great Russian composers, all celebrating the theme of Russian Orthodox hymns dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

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REVIEW:

This outstanding choral ensemble, assembled from some of the finest choral singers across North America, perform an array of 25 individual works dedicated to the Mother of God, spanning over three centuries. Throughout the program, there are moments of exquisite choral beauty, punctuated by outstanding solo vocal contributions.

The CD booklet contains extensive program notes written by the conductor himself, Maestro Peter Jermihov, who combines his scholarly perspective and performer’s insights to enrich the listeners’ experience with his incisive commentary.

– Orthodox Arts Journal

Ludwig Van Beethoven defied the conventions of his time and produced revolutionary music that changed the world and influenced generations of composers, musicians and listeners. Beethoven’s legacy and the profound impact of his emotionally devastating and deeply personal works cannot be understated, especially in light of his own challenges and tragedies. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra celebrates this enduring composer’s brilliant work and tumultuous life during the 2014-2015 season...Over the course of the season, audiences followed Beethoven on his journey from acolyte to revolutionary to master. - Pittsburgh Symphony

Founded in 2001 by violinist and composer Jeremy Cohen, Quartet San Francisco expresses itself in its agility and standout virtuosic playing. These crossover specialists excel in multiple styles, from jazz to tango, pop to funk, blues to bluegrass, gypsy swing to big band and beyond. On this new release they invite you to join in their journey into the chamber music of the 21st century. The twelve tracks on the album include nine written or arranged by Cohen. Seven are world premieres, and another three are world premieres in string quartet form. These outstanding performances have been captured in natural, uncompromising audiophile sound by Reference Recordings’ own award-winning engineering team: Keith O. Johnson and Sean Royce Martin. A QSF Journey was recorded May 2018 at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, California. This is Quartet San Francisco’s first release on the Reference Recordings label. QSF’s last four releases garnered three Grammy nominations.

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REVIEW:

From the delightfully optimistic Fiesta (Lipsky) that reminds me of Yo-Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer’s Goat Rodeo Sessions album to the morose Tango Carnevale (Cohen), to Rhapsody in Bluegrass (think Rhapsody in Blue meets Orange Blossom Special), this album keeps pleasantly surprising us with each song.

– American Record Guide

Reference Recordings is proud to present our first album with the CARNEGIE MELLON WIND ENSEMBLE, conducted and produced by GRAMMY®-winner GEORGE VOSBURGH. Unusual and underperformed repertoire has long been a hallmark of this ensemble’s programming. This album exemplifies that, with the pairing of Strauss’ 1945 Symphony for Winds in E-flat Major (The Happy Workshop) and his 1881 Serenade for Winds in E-flat Major, Op. 7. Notes writer Amanda Vosburgh states: “Taken together, the Serenade Op. 7 and the “Happy Workshop” form the bookends to a long and diverse body of work, marked by innovative chromaticism and complexity, but tethered at either end to the classical tradition.”