Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98 - MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra (Live) Classical Orchestral & Concertos Reference Recordings CD

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“… The technical skill and brilliance of the players have to be heard to be believed, and the multi-colored, multi-dimensional tapestry of sound they produce o this amazing multi-channel, SACD recording is absolutely transfixing. Together with the gorgeous MacMillan Larghetto, this is a release I expect to see on more than one Want List …”

Jerry Dubins – Fanfare – January/February 2022

Recommended

“… It will be one of my discs of the year, without a doubt – bravo!”

Lee Denham – MusicWeb-International.com – 3 March 2022

“… Could this at last prove the millennium’s spiritual successor to Kleiber’s recording from the early 80s?”

Philip R Buttall – MusicWeb-International.com – 8 February 2022

Symphonic Music category – Nominee

International Classical Music Awards 2022

“From the way Honeck asks his orchestra to lean into the very first note, beseechingly and growing out of a whispered sigh, you know that this is a deeply thought out performance… Honeck and the Pittsburgh SO exhibit phenomenal power and intensity in their execution [of the third movement], making as coherent and compelling a case as possible for the strange composition of the movement; its violent culmination is almost shocking in its power and brevity… The clarity of this recording is miraculous: every strand of instrumentation is pellucid …”

Ralph Moore – MusicWeb-International.com – 11 January 2022

“… Whether this release represents the start of a complete Brahms cycle for Honeck and his orchestra remains to be seen, but discerning collectors should find this recording a more than worthy addition to their shelves. In short this is another unmissable release from Reference Recordings.”

Graham Williams - cdchoice.co.uk – 12 December 2021

Performance ***** Recording *****

“In this outstanding performance of Brahms’s Fourth Symphony, Manfred Honek draws a wonderfully rich, almost Central European String sound from the Pittsburgh Symphony, matched by equally mellifluous and wonderfully blended colours from the woodwind and horns…”

Erik Levi – BBC Music magazine – Christmas 2021

“… Normally, I hesitate to strongly recommend a disc with less than an hour's worth of music, but this excellent Brahms Fourth and the high artistic quality of the new MacMillan work make this SACD a standout fully deserving of a strong recommendation.”

Robert Cummings – MusicWeb-International.com – 25 November 2021

Artistic Quality 10 Sound Quality 10

“… the Pittsburgh Symphony plays the music as beautifully as it can be done… Superb engineering makes this new release especially welcome. A winner all around.”

David Hurwitz – ClassicsToday.com – November 2021

“… Honeck and his players have ways of digging into the music and providing new perspectives on it such that their recordings are, by and large, can’t-miss events. So it is with their new account of Johannes Brahms’s Fourth Symphony. This is one of the most beloved and frequently played of symphonies. Here, though, it sounds entirely fresh and new…”

Jonathan Blumhofer – Artsfuse.org – 5 November 2021

Performance ***** Sonics (Multichannel) *****

“… The playing of the PSO throughout is, needless to say, outstanding in its unanimity of attack, flexibility and chording combined with wonderfully true intonation and tonal homogeneity. When, as here, this is combined with Honeck’s clear and purposeful reading, the performance is a formidable one … Whether this release represents the start of a complete Brahms cycle for Honeck and his orchestra remains to be seen, but discerning collectors should find this recording a more than worthy addition to their shelves. In short this is another unmissable release from Reference Recordings.”

Graham Williams – HRAudio.net – 10 November 2021

“…The Larghetto for orchestra by James MacMillan goes very well with this Brahms Fourth… It is a beautiful work with wonderful shadings of sound which comes across very well in Manfred Honeck’s soulful interpretation” ****

Remy Franck – Pizzicato.lu – 22 October 2021

“… Maestro Honeck and his musicians have done it again. Massive it is, but controlled with a perfect balance between the various instrumental groups, and as such as transparent as with a smaller outfit, yet miles more impressive. I know of only a few music directors who can do that. This is now by far my first choice…”

Adrian Quanjer – HRAudio.net – 17 October 2021

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