Archive for Kansas City Symphony – Page 8
The ArtsDesk Praises Kansas City Symphony Elgar/Vaughan Williams
Kansas City Symphony’s Elgar/Vaughan Williams recording continues to bring in rave reviews! The ArtsDesk‘s Graham Rickson has a new review and places the recording in his end-of-year Top 10 list: “This is an exceptional disc in so many ways. The Kansas orchestral playing is flamboyant, assured, but always affectionate, and the recorded sound is possibly the most realistic I’ve come across. “The engineering really does serve the music, lending additional colour and warmth to Michael…
Touching Base after latest Kansas City Recording Sessions
“Prof” Keith Johnson The Reference Recording team is back from Kansas City after a wonderful pair of recording sessions in the new Kansas City Helzburg Hall! The first recording was what’s sure to be another special one with the Kansas City Symphony featuring the music of Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 in C minor “Organ”, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A Minor for Violin and Orchestra, and La muse et le poete for Violin, Cello and…
Announcing THREE New HRx Recordings!
Three New HRx Releases now available on ReferenceRecordings.com: Playing With Fire Music by Frank Ticheli Combines the mighty Dallas Wind Symphony with enthusiastic playing by the seven-piece Jim Cullum Jazz Band! Order Today! Eglar: Enigma Variations Vaughan Williams – Greensleeves/The Wasps A new symphonic tour-de-force. This colorful, beloved English music has been captured by GRAMMY winning engineer Keith O. Johnson! Order Today! There’s A Time Doug MacLeod “Prof” Johnson’s first Blues for RR, recorded at…
Fanfare With A Second Rave for Kansas City Symphony’s Elgar/Vaughan Williams
Fanfare reviewer Merlin Patterson adds a second (First Fanfare review here) Elgar/Vaughan Williams review! “The reason to acquire this disc is not necessarily for the music of Elgar and Vaughan Williams, but rather to experience the brilliant playing of the Kansas City Symphony under the inspired baton of its music director, Michael Stern…The big ticket item on the disc is of course, Elgar’s Enigma Variations and here, Stern and his great orchestra deliver a thrilling…
Kansas City Symphony Elgar/Vaughan Williams Recording featured in Gramophone
The newly available May 2013 issue of Gramophone Magazine features a wonderful interview with conductor Michael stern about the Kansas City Symphony’s latest recording of Elgar and Vaughan Williams, and also includes a new review for the release! “…the Kansas City Symphony sets its sights on another with a second all-English concert for multiple Grammy-winner Reference Recordings, featuring a revelatory Enigma Variations. From the outset, Michael Stern and his world-class band bypass the riddle by…
Fanfare Reviews Kansas City Symphony Elgar and Vaughan Williams
Dave Saemann of Fanfare Magazine has a new review of our latest Kansas City Symphony recording: “If taste in music-making can pass from one generation to another, that certainly seems to have happened with conductor Michael Stern. Yo-Yo Ma said of the conductor’s father, violinist Isaac Stern, that he left ‘no tone unsterned.’ Similarly, Michael Stern’s Kansas City Symphony is defined by its elegant and beautiful tone, splendidly adapted to the character of the music…
Now Available for the first time – Full HRx Downloads!
Five Full HRx Albums now available for download on HDtracks! Now Available as 176.4 kHz / 24-bit downloads: Elgar: Enigma Variations/Vaughan Williams: The Wasps, Greensleeves – San Francisco Ballet Orchestra “The finale is extremely impressive, aided by state-of-the-art sonics that offer the finest integration of organ and orchestra.” – Classics Today “This new recording engineered by Keith Johnson is typical of the Professor’s natural sound, accorded transparency and depth.” – Audiophilia Conductor Michael Stern leads…
Classical.net Reviews Kansas City Elgar – Vaughan Williams Recording
Brian Wigman of Classical.net says the new Kansas City Symphony recording of Elgar and Vaughan Williams is “about as good as it gets“! “This very fine CD is about as good as it gets. Reference Recordings has long made some of the finest sounding records in the business, and this recent release is no exception. None of that would matter if the music making wasn’t exceptional, but it is. These wonderfully played, entirely convincing performances…
New Doug MacLeod and Kansas City Symphony CDs On Sale
Announcing Two New RR Releases On Sale Through March 25th! Use our special discount code: NEW-RR and receive a 10% discount on one or both of these two new RR titles Enter the discount code when ordering There’s A Time New Midwest Record Review “All these years and all his collected praises later, he makes a new record, recorded live in the studio at Skywalker Studios and he still has the same cover pic smirk…
Classical CD Choice With Two Reviews of new Kansas City Symphony Elgar/Vaughan Williams Recording
Barry Forshaw and Graham Williams of the UK’s Classical CD Choice both have rave reviews of our latest Kansas City Symphony Elgar/Vaughan Williams recording: “History might be said to repeat itself in these utterly splendid American performances of Elgar and Vaughan Williams, with Michael Stern adopting an utterly persuasive approach to this music, stressing (if anything) its internationalism. What makes the disc particularly cherishable is the typically luxurious 24-bit sound quality afforded by Prof Johnson,…
ClassicsToday Highly Recommends New Kansas City Symphony Recording
ClassicsToday rates our latest Kansas City Symphony Elgar/Vaughan Williams recording a 9/10 for Artistic Quality and a 10/10 for Sound Quality, while highly recommending the recording even if you have multiple recordings of the repertoire: “Michael Stern and his Kansas City Symphony take to the music as if to the manner born. The Wasps, here given as the complete suite and not just the overture, is delightful. “The finale is extremely impressive, aided by state-of-the-art…
ClassicFM raves about our new Kansas City Symphony Recording
The raves keep coming for our new Kansas City Symphony Elgar/Vaughan Williams recording — this time from ClassicFM.com. “Fans of these two key players in the British music sphere will not be disappointed. Every nuance of Elgar’s very particular dynamic markings is captured in this recording from the Kansas City Symphony, conducted by Michael Stern. The strings’ shimmering vibrato, too, brings Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on ‘Greensleeves’ to life, with an orchestral sound so crisp that…
Audiophile Audition Rates Elgar/Vaughan Williams Five Stars!
Audiophile Audition has given our new Kansas City Symphony release a Five Star rating! Take a look at some quotes from the review: “fine British music of the most colorful sort on top, with superb performances. “The conductor here is the son of famed violinist Isaac Stern, and he has his Kansas City forces in top mettle with a rich and detailed performance of the full-length 20 Enigma variations.” — John Sunier, Audiophile Audition Read…
Classical Candor with High Praise for New Kansas City Symphony Elgar/Vaughan Williams CD
Critic, John J. Puccio offers high praise on his Classical Candor blog for our latest Kansas City Symphony recording: “Although one can certainly find a multitude of other available recordings of these pieces, few of them combine the expert performances and audiophile sound we find here. “The Wasps…Maestro Michael Stern and his Kansas City Symphony play with high good spirits. It’s fun stuff, especially the overture, which begins with sounds of a swarm of wasps.…
HP Soundings Raves about New Elgar/Vaughan Williams Recording
The new site from Harry Pearson, HP Soundings has quite the rave for our new Kansas City Symphony recording: “…an elegantly played and most sensitively conducted Elgar, perhaps the best on record yet, and certainly, to these ears, the most moving. “…gorgeous playing and delicately wrought dynamic contrasts – reminiscent of the best analog sound from Reference Recordings. “Do not, I mean this absolutely, let this one pass you by. It is a treat at…