Beethoven & Stucky Symphony No. 6 Pastoral & Silent Spring Hybrid Multi-Channel & Stereo SACD

Rated One of the Best Classical Albums of 2022 by The Absolute Sound!

TAS Rated 5/5 Music, 4/5 Sonics in the September 2022 Issue of The Absolute Sound!

Reference Recordings proudly presents the Symphony No. 6 of Ludwig van Beethoven, with Steven Stucky's Silent Spring, in exceptional performances from Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Maestro Honeck honors us again with his meticulous music notes. He gives rare insight into his conducting and interpretation, as well as the history and musical structure of Beethoven's beloved Pastoral Symphony.

Steven Stucky's Silent Spring was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in honor of the 50th anniversary of the publication of the book Silent Spring, the seminal work by Pittsburgh native Rachel Carson. It had its world premiere performance in February 2012. The composer generously includes his own album notes about this work, which like the book can be heard as a call to action to love and save nature and the Earth before it is too late.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, known for its artistic excellence for more than 125 years, is credited with a rich history of the world's finest conductors and musicians and is deeply committed to Pittsburgh and its region. Since 2008, the Pittsburgh Symphony has been led by its worldwide acclaimed Music Director Manfred Honeck. Past music directors have included many of the greats, including Fritz Reiner, William Steinberg, Andre Previn, Lorin Maazel and Mariss Jansons. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has always been at the forefront of championing new works, including recent commissions by Mason Bates, Jonathan Leshnoff, James MacMillan and Julia Wolfe. The Pittsburgh Symphony has a long and illustrious history in the areas of recordings and live radio broadcasts dating back to the 1930s. It has toured frequently both domestically and overseas since 1900 - including more than 40 international tours. The Pittsburgh Symphony continues to be critically acclaimed as one of the world's greatest orchestras.

This release is the thirteenth in the highly acclaimed Pittsburgh Live! series of multichannel hybrid SACD releases on the FRESH! imprint from Reference Recordings. This series has received Grammy® Nominations in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022. 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. This release and the entire Pittsburgh Live! series are recorded and mastered by the team at Soundmirror, whose outstanding orchestral, solo, opera and chamber recordings have received more than 130 Grammy® nominations and awards.

The arrival in the countryside is brisk and bracing, the brook never dawdles along its merry way, the peasants' dance is bumptious and high-spirited, the thunderstorm rages with hair-raising ferocity, and the planget, beautifully phrased 'Shepherd's Song' rises to a strong climax. The late Stephen Stucky's Silent Spring fills out the program, a powerfully expressive suite of four meditations on Rachel Carson's environmental classic of the same title. The Pittsburgh Symphony play like gods and angels in both works.