Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Dvorak: Rusalka Fantasy

"I believe most of you would agree that not many composers quite match Tchaikovsky when it comes to conjuring up a sense of "drama" in music. And especially the way he applies some of the most beautiful melodies to emotionally passionate moments is quite gripping. Include his preponderance for extensive tension escalation and perfectly timed release, and you have the perfect recipe for electrifying music. He certainly knew how to create vivid images in music.

Add to this the nervous energy of a live concert as we have here, and you're in for an emotional roller coaster. For example, there's an enormous amount of passionate energy released at the 13:00 mark of the first movement that is exceptionally well captured by Manfred Honeck and exceptionally well projected by the Pittsburgh players, and then followed by an overwhelming sense of calm at the end with a long, sustained chord perfectly pitched by the brass section. And even more cheers and bravos to the brass players for their tour de force acrobatics during the Allegro Molto Vivace third movement, a moment in music that feels like a march onward to victory on an epic scale. Best of all is the profound sense of pathos radiating from every strand of the final Adagio Lamentoso movement in which the Pittsburgh string section gets to shine. In the final two minutes alone, with its pseudo failing heartbeat rhythmic pulse, the lower strings are darkness shrouded in darkness, the epitome of intense gravity, and this account leaves a profound impression.

If you're looking for an up-to-date, live, full-spectrum recording, you can't do much better than this."

Any new album from this particular team is usually an event, and this one keeps up the trend.…But the excellence of the playing and sound engineering never draws undue attention to itself; what's compelling is the intelligence and musicality of the performance. …It works beautifully… An outstanding album, and not just for audiophiles.”

“It is fair to say that Manfred Honeck's series of live recordings with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra of music by Richard Strauss, Dvorak, Bruckner and Beethoven on the Reference Recordings Fresh! label have been revelatory, even to those listeners who are very familiar with the works featured on them that are cornerstones of the orchestral repertoire.

The main work on this latest release is Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B minor and in an engrossing twelve-page essay in the liner notes Honeck first discusses the genesis of the Symphony and speculates on its probable secret program. These notes are worth the price of the album.

From the first bars this is to be a special account of the Symphony. It is no surprise then to find that the 'Rusalka Fantasy' is like a newly minted Dvorak orchestral masterpiece. The PSO's scintillating performance of the suite makes it a most welcome and imaginative addition to the catalogue.

The skilled recording team (Soundmirror, Boston) have ensured that these recordings, made and post produced in DSD 256, are in every way worthy of the performances enshrined on this album.

There is no doubt that the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra are fortunate to have such a perceptive Music Director with a meticulous care for detail and the ability to deliver performances of such consistently high quality. But Manfred Honeck is equally blessed with a supremely accomplished virtuoso orchestra who can fulfil his wishes to the letter. Long may this partnership continue and, hopefully, yield many more such involving, and often spine-tingling, recordings as these."