Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra & Manfred Honeck - Dvořák & Janáček: Orchestral Works (2014)

Manfred Honeck's luxuriant account of Dvorak's Eighth symphony with the Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra Is among the most persuasive and exciting I've heard of this work. --IRR, Nov'14

Critics Choice --Gramophone, Dec'14

Search for shops which still sell classical CDs and it s likely that you ll be disappointed, in the UK at least. Peruse the surviving major labels lists of new releases and the reissues often outnumber the new recordings. But we live in an age when it s never been cheaper, or easier, to discover good music in great performances. You just need to know where to look. Scanning an online retailer s catalogue will never be as enjoyable as browsing through the racks in a well-run shop, but it means that virtually anything can be obtained within a few days at the click of a mouse. Legions of smaller, independent labels continue to punch above their weight. It 's not all doom and gloom, in other words. And these are the recordings I've returned to again and again during the last 12 months: My favourite CD of the year, and one of the best recordings you'll ever hear, is Manfred Honeck's Pittsburgh Symphony performance of Dvorak' s 8th Symphony. Where to start? This symphony may be standard repertoire, but it's rarely been dispatched with this much polish, or directed with such a winning combination of smartness and fun. Honeck takes liberties but justifies each one, and he's rewarded with stunning playing. There's an intelligent coupling in the form of an orchestral suite drawn from Janácek' s opera Jenufa, and the recorded sound glows. If this disc doesn't make you dance around the room, you've no soul. --ArtsDesk, 29/12/14