Archive for Dan Morgan
MusicWeb International Praises One Movement Symphonies
MusicWeb International critic Dan Morgan reviews the new Kansas City Symphony and the Michael Stern recording, One Movement Symphonies: “From the outset, it’s clear Stern has the measure of the [Barber First Symphony], its dramatic arch cannily constructed, its final destination never in doubt. As for the KCS, they respond with real warmth and commitment, their playing as poised and polished as anything you might hear in Boston, Chicago, or even Detroit. Predictably, the recording…
MusicWeb Reviews Jan Kraybill’s Orchestral Organ
MusicWeb International‘s Dan Morgan, who found Jan Kraybill’s Organ Polychrome “pure magic”, jumped at the chance to hear the Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant Organ again in The Orchestral Organ: “The Orchestral Organ builds on…broad, well-established foundations. And, in the best tradition, this programme is clearly designed to intrigue, entertain and, quite possibly, educate. There are some familiar transcriptions among the first recordings and a world premiere. … Kraybill [is] as beguiling as one could wish. ……
John Williams At The Movies is “Sensational”
MusicWeb International critic Dan Morgan reviews the Dallas Winds and Jerry Junkin’s July 6 release, John Williams At The Movies! “Scrolling through John Williams’s extensive worklist triggers an avalanche of movie memories… What better way to get start than with the fanfare and theme Williams wrote for the opening ceremony at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. There’s a broad, arresting sense of spectacle, so familiar from his epic movie scores, plus a dash of…
Teach Me Thy Statutes is a MusicWeb Recording of the Month!
MusicWeb International critic, Dan Morgan, names PaTRAM’s Teach Me Thy Statutes release a May Recording of the Month! “There are few more thrilling experiences than the sound of Russian sacred music, especially when it’s sung by native choirs. … Teach Me Thy Statutes, the first in a projected series from the Patriarch Tikhon Russian American Music Institute (PaTRAM), features their male choir, directed by Vladimir Gorbik. Given that this ensemble is made up of professional…
Wine Dark Sea is “another Rolls-Royce”
MusicWeb reviews Wine Dark Sea: “Dan Welcher, whose Spumante opens with the popping of a cork, is new to me. This engaging piece, commissioned by the Boston Pops, is rather more subtle than its effervescent title might suggest… Welcher casts the net wide… I’ve not encountered the music of Donald Grantham before, but his Louisiana-inspired J’ai été au bal (I went to the dance), with its artful use of Cajun tunes, is an ear-pricking, toe-tapping…
Organ Polychrome a Recording of the Year!
MusicWeb International critic Dan Morgan names Organ Polychrome one of his Recordings of the Year! “This is my top pick for 2015. Reference Recordings have a reputation for top-notch engineering, but that wouldn’t count for much without performances of equal stature. Indeed, Jan Kraybill’s exemplary musicianship and the lovely sound of this noble Kansas City instrument make this one of the finest organ recordings I know. Period.” —Dan Morgan Read Dan Morgan’s original MusicWeb review.…
MusicWeb International Double Review for Kansas City Saint-Saëns
MusicWeb International offers a double-review for our new recording of Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 “Organ” by Jan Kraybill and the Kansas City Symphony: “The recording captures the ravishing timbres of the instruments very well indeed; there’s real personality to the playing of both soloists…Always tasteful, Jan Kraybill certainly adds majesty to the mix as the finale hoves into view…while the bass drum and cymbals are superbly rendered…The closing pages are grand and glorious, the noble…
Organ Polychrome A MusicWeb Recording of the Month!
MusicWeb International names Jan Kraybill’s Organ Polychrome a January Recording of the Month! “The Allegro from Widor’s Organ Symphony No. 6 headlines this new album, which features Kansas City’s Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant (2011). At the console of this magnificent 102-rank instrument is Jan Kraybill, who tackles Widor’s daunting structures with aplomb. Even at this early stage the organ’s tonal subtlety and range of colours are very much in evidence; whether Kraybill’s dissembling quietly or…