Beethoven 5th & 7th Symphonies —Pittsburgh Symphony/Manfred Honeck (Reference 718)
Manfred Honeck is doing great things in Pittsburgh—you may remember his Dvorák Eighth Symphony we featured as a Choice CD in 2014. Well ArkivMusic has awarded this Beethoven disc 10s in Artistic and Sound Quality and a reviewer at Classics Today explains why: “No matter how many billion recordings of this music we already have, a great performance offers its own justification, these are very great performances. In his thoughtful booklet notes, conductor Manfred Honeck reveals his understanding not just of Beethoven, but more importantly for our purposes, his knowledge of the Beethoven discography. It’s not easy to offer interpretations of this music that sound new without turning capricious–that both respect the music and personalize it. Honeck and the orchestra manage to pull it off consistently, with bravura, finesse, and an intelligence that makes these versions a true celebration of Beethoven’s genius.” Click through for the rest of this wildly enthusiastic review!
Featured Fri 1/15, Fri 1/29 (originally featured in December 2015)