Nadia Shpachenko Performing George Crumb’s Music for a Summer Evening Buy Nadia Shpachenko’s Woman at the New Piano Read the latest Woman at the New Piano review! Jan Kraybill and the Kansas City Symphony Test the Casavant Organ Get Jan Kraybill and the Kansas City Symphony’s Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony recording today! Hear Jan Kraybill and the Casavant Organ in full splendour in Organ Polychrome!
The Kansas City Star‘s Patrick Neas makes his suggestions for music to listen to this summer and the Kansas City Symphony’s Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 “Organ” is on the top of his list: “There are many recordings of Camille Saint-Saens’ Organ Symphony on the market, but Reference Recordings has just released a CD by the Kansas City Symphony that can take its place with the best of them. The KC Symphony, with superb direction from…
MusicWeb International critic Michael Cookson recounts a live Saint-Saëns “Organ” Symphony performance while reviewing our new Kansas City Symphony recording: In the Adagio – Allegro moderato Michael Stern’s well balanced opening soon increases in weight and volume. The efforts of the Kansas orchestra are thrilling. Stern engenders a sense of steely determination. The low growling entry of organ in the Poco adagio is notable and the dialogue between organ and strings is delightfully reflective. Conversely…
In David Hurwitz’s fantastic new review of the Kansas City Symphony’s Saint-Saëns “Organ” Symphony recording, he states “I do wish, though, that Reference Recordings had included a stop list in the booklet. The instrument has some interesting timbres and I would have liked to know what resources it calls upon to make them.” Unfortunately these specs were not able to fit in the included liner notes, but in case anyone else might be curious, we…
ClassicsToday‘s David Horowitz reviews the “remarkably good” Kansas City Symphony recording of Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3: “…this is an unusually vivacious and texturally transparent reading, recorded with welcome clarity in an acoustic that never permits detail to get obscured by excessive reverberation. The balance between organ and orchestra in the finale, even when everyone is blasting away, could not be more perfect. In the serene Adagio too, which flows with impressive poise, the soft tones…
AllMusic names Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony’s Saint-Saëns recording an Editor’s Choice! “Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony deliver this celebrated Romantic symphony with extraordinary vitality, crisp articulation, and brilliant sonorities, and their performances of the two filler pieces are equally vivid and exciting. Of special note are the soloists, organist Jan Kraybill in the symphony, violinist Noah Geller in the Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, and the duo of Geller and cellist…
Audiophile Audition‘s Mel Martin reviews the new Michael Stern and Kansas City Symphony recording of Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3: “It’s a gigantic work, with organ, a large orchestra and two pianos. For years it’s been a favorite demonstration disc for audiophiles, and no wonder with it’s aggressive playing and wide dynamics.… Reference Recordings has long been a leader in high quality releases, so this is no ordinary recording. …The Organ Symphony was quite spectacular sounding…this…
Audiophile critic Rad Bennett (Stereo Review, The Absolute Sound, Sound and Vision, Sound Stage! and more) weighs in on the new Kansas City Symphony Saint-Saëns recording, saying “There can be no doubt that this is one of the best recorded versions around…”. Bennett lists his top five recordings of Symphony No. 3, which now includes Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony and ranks it #1 in terms of sound, adding that what makes this…
Classical Music Sentinel composer Jean-Yves Duperron offers advice for how to challenge the top Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 recordings and says Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony have it “down and then some.” “I’ve never heard such a well-rounded account of this impressive symphonic work. Under Michael Stern’s direction, the slow movement glows with expressive touches and the final movement blows everyone else out of the water. The impressive Casavant pipe organ which has…
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…
We are pleased to announce a new release from The Kansas City Symphony & Michael Stern: Saint-Saëns Smphony No. 3 “Organ” The Kansas City Symphony Michael Stern Jan Kraybill, organist Noah Geller, violin Mark Gibbs, cello Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 “Organ” Introduction and Rondo capriccioso in A Minor for Violin and Orchestra, op. 28 La muse et le poète for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra, op. 132 A Superb New Orchestral Release Buy Today Composed at…
Pictures on Silence blogger Don Clark has a new review for next week’s (6/12/15) Kansas City Symphony Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 “Organ” recording: “In addition to being uniformly excellent, the Kansas City Symphony can also be called ‘gutsy’. …This disc from Reference Recordings is a blend of the familiar and rare: an all Saint-Saëns disc featuring the less known “La Muse et le Poete”, op 132 for Violin, Cello and Orchestra combined with the popular…
Want to hear a preview of The Kansas City Symphony’s new Saint Saëns: Symphony No. 3 “Organ” recording? Tune into Kansas Public Radio this morning around 10am Central (US) time! Click to listen We are proud to present conductor Michael Stern’s interpretations of these great works, captured in brilliant HDCD sound by GRAMMY® award winners Keith O. Johnson (engineer) and David Frost (producer). The Symphony has released four previous titles with Reference Recordings to great…
TWO new LPs coming June 2! Doug MacLeod: Exactly Like This Two-LP 45rpm set on 200 gram pressings in a deluxe gatefold jacket! “In May, 2014, he was awarded not one but two Blues Music Awards in the categories of Acoustic Artist of the Year (after being nominated for this award for the past six years) and Acoustic Album of the Year for There’s A Time on Reference Records. His current Reference Record, Exactly Like…
Get a first listen to TWO upcoming releases on the Reference Recordings SoundCloud Channel: Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 “Organ” Tempo Do Brasil: Solo & Chamber Works for Guitar To listen directly on SoundCloud click the image below: