Reference Recordings

10/08/2025

2026 brings the 50th Anniversary of Reference Recordings. In anticipation and celebration, Fanfare Magazine has a wonderful new interview with RR Executive Director Marcia Martin in the November/December issue!

See it now at https://bit.ly/4oczged

10/07/2025

Reference Recordings is proud to present the following releases for your GRAMMY® consideration:

For Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance:
Four Hands. Two Hearts One Hope. Featuring Mykhailo Diordiiev & Anastasiia Larchikova

For Best Choral Performance:
Handel: Jephtha - Featuring Jane Glover and Music of the Baroque

For Best Classical Compendium:
Requiem: Mozart's Death in Words and Music - Featuring Manfred Honeck, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, F. Murray Abraham, The Westminster Choir, Jeanine De Bique, Catriona Morison, Ben Bliss, and Tareq Nazmi

Best Classical Instrumental Solo:
Andrés Segovia Archive: Grand Finale – Featuring Roberto Moronn Pérez
The Six Cello Suites of J.S. Bach – Featuring William Skeen

Best American Roots Song:
Memphis in Your Soul – Featuring Doug MacLeod

Best Traditional Blues Album:
Between Somewhere and Goodbye – Featuring Doug MacLeod

Best Engineered Album, Classical
The Six Cello Suites of J.S. Bach – Featuring William Skeen

10/06/2025

“the prodigiously talented pianists play like seasoned vets with years of playing behind them… Based on the evidence at hand, the two are poised to have long and prosperous careers, as individuals and, if they wish, as duo partners.… [an] immensely rewarding collection. As debuts go, this one's remarkable.” —Textura on

Review link in our comments

10/02/2025

😎 Doug MacLeod's Between Somewhere and Goodbye is on KMUW's Top 40 for September on Chris Heim's “Crossroads” program!

📻 https://www.kmuw.org/show/crossroads/2025-10-01/crossroads-top-40-september-2025

10/01/2025

Outstanding Positive Feedback review for Manfred Honeck, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, and all the soloists involved in Requiem: Mozart's Death in Words and Music!

“Treated as a concert, with due attention to it as such, it is a dramatic & engaging album. And it's perhaps the best choral music recording I've heard this year. …a brilliantly successful performance… Manfred Honeck once again coaches his orchestra into a dramatic, dynamic performance. The results he is accomplishing with his Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra musicians continues to be remarkably satisfying. Each new recording I hear seems to rise to yet a next higher level of ex*****on. The precision of both orchestra and chorus in this recording is exhilarating. And the soloists deliver superbly, each is nicely, very satisfying, matched to their parts for this work. And each sings to near perfection, with the same level of precision and excellent intonation that we hear from the chorus. Altogether delightful.… My highest recommendation, for both performance and sound quality. If I awarded stars, which I don't, it would be sparkling.” —Rush Paul

See the review: https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/music-reviews/recent-finds-51-nativedsd/
Add the album to your library: listn.fm/mozartrequiem

09/26/2025

EarRelevant hails Anastasiia Larchikova & Mikhail Diordiev - Pianist's debut as “an easy recommendation.”

“The pianists are perfectly integrated and very natural … It is difficult to imagine a better rendering.… They are impeccably and ferociously immersed in the music, which seems written especially for them. They keep the listener dancing and never miss a single rhythmical detail.… Being the first CD of this piano duo, and with such an appealing repertoire, it is an easy recommendation.” —Giorgio Koukl

See the full review: https://bit.ly/3VWV1ml

09/25/2025

Don't miss this in-depth interview with Anastasiia Larchikova and Mykhailo Diordiiev on “No Dead Guys, a Piano Blog” about their new release, Four Hands. Two Hearts. One Hope.

Four Hands. Two Hearts. One Hope . This album is about joy. And faith. And the gift of the human spirit that allows us to create art in the midst of darkness. As Ukraine fights to save its country from Russian aggression while geopolitical forces leave Ukrainians wondering about world support, Ukrai

09/22/2025

Bman's Bman's Blues Report has a review for Doug MacLeod's new album, Between Somewhere and Goodbye, and the keyword? “Cool”.

See the review at https://bit.ly/4mvERuK

09/19/2025

🙌 The wait is over! Our best, most-loved LP titles are back in stock at last! Upon testing the first batch of the new stock, founder and long-time producer, Tam Henderson shared, “A-plus in every way, flatness, centering, surfaces… the new standard from Quality Record Pressings”. Find them all at referencerecordings.com/format/lp

09/15/2025

“…it’s as if Skeen has decided to present these pieces in a manner that reflects the importance of each note Bach writes. They are careful renderings, structural integrity being a primary focus of the artist. …one does indeed perceive this as a very personal utterance from Skeen, and several times in repeated hearings I felt as if I was intruding by listening outside a practice room door! … a very individualized and unique exhibition of timeless music, done as he sees fit, not for all time, but as the artist discerns in this present moment.” —Steven Ritter, Audiophile Audition