Stereophile Magazine critic Stephen Francis Vasta gives Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony a four-and-a-half star rating and the sonics a five-star rating in his review for their new One Movement Symphonies recording: “These three symphonies, all dating from the first half of the 20th century, comprise so apt a program that I’m surprised no one did it before. … The program demands front-line virtuoso playing, and the Kansas City Symphony proves up to…
Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony’s new One Movement Symphonies album left The Arts Fuse’s Jonathan Blumhofer asking for a sequel, or even a whole series: “Michael Stern’s new recording with the Kansas City Symphony (KCS) celebrates a subgenre one probably doesn’t think about all that much: the single-movement symphony. Given the rewards of this album, which showcases symphonic works by Samuel Barber, Jean Sibelius, and Alexander Scriabin, perhaps one should. … Stern and his forces…
AllMusic Guide’s James Manheim gives a Four-Star Rating to Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony’s One Movement Symphonies recording: “the engineering here, from Kansas City’s Helzberg Hall, is more than enough reason to check out this recording. Stern chooses three works that, in addition to fulfilling the condition of the One Movement Symphonies title, have seriously complex textures that challenge an engineer to the maximum. Even listeners quite familiar with the Sibelius Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105,…
Textura Magazine reviews the Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern’s recording of Barber, Sibelius, and Scriabin One Movement Symphonies: “While each piece satisfies for different reasons, the fact that each can be experienced as a singular statement without pause is an appealing quality common to all. That they’re all performed by the Kansas City Symphony under the expert guidance of conductor Michael Stern also does much to recommend the release, as does its acoustically resonant…
Graham Rickson reviews The Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern’s recording of Barber, Sibelius, and Scriabin One Movement Symphonies on The Arts Desk: “[Barber’s Symphony No. 1 is] played brilliantly here, Michael Stern’s Kansas City Symphony having exactly the right tonal blend for this music. Brass have ample weight, and the strings sing. Scriabin’s Poem of Ecstasy receives a similarly ripe performance. … This Sibelius 7 is excellent. Stern’s transitions are seamless, and the trombone theme’s third…
Gary Lemco gives a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review to Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony’s One Movement Symphonies recording on Audiophile Audition: “The Kansas City Symphony brass prove especially resonant in their dark coloration… The Kansas City Symphony lushly blends the powerful [Barber] Finale, sustaining the Romantic ethos of the material, weaving all three tunes together and concluding with a jubilant, energetic thrust of youthful confidence. … The sense of improvisational freedom fused with a volcanic…
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…
Jean-Yves Duperron reviews Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony’s new recording of One Movement Symphonies for the Classical Music Sentinel: “The audio engineers over at the Reference Recordings label, and Keith O. Johnson in particular, one of the label’s founders, have always prided themselves on the high definition, “realistic” quality of their music recordings. You know, that just like being there type of sonic experience. And this one, like many others, is a case in point… in this…
Rafael de Acha reviews Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony’s One Movement Symphonies recording for All About the Arts: “Leading the peerless musicians of the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern delivers an extraordinary reading of Barber’s work. … [Sibelius’ Symphony No. 7] is brief and unflagging in its tensile intensity, ever underpinned by inspired, disciplined playing from the members of the Kansas City Symphony, with Michael Stern at its helm. … Again, [in Scriabin’s…
Lynn René Bayley reviews Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony’s One Movement Symphonies recording on her Art Music Lounge blog: “This is exactly the kind of imaginative programming that I long to see on most symphonic CD releases… superb control of orchestral balance and textures, good phrasing… a good, solid, professional performance. … I heard many interesting details in the music that escape many a recording by more famous conductors. … an interesting album,…
MusicWeb International names the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra’s recording of Jonathan Leshnoff: Piano Concerto; Symphony No. 3 with Joyce Yang and Stephen Powell a February 2021 Recording of the Month! “Both are world-premiere recordings, the symphony set down a week after its premiere performance in 2016, while the Concerto was recorded live at its premiere in November 2019, and both are treated to excellent orchestral playing, as well as superb sonics from Reference Recordings –…
MusicWeb International reviews the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Stephen Powell, and Joyce Yang’s world premiere recordings of Jonathan Leshnoff: Symphony No. 3 and Piano Concerto: “This is an excellent concerto. It’s thoroughly entertaining, though in saying that I don’t want to give the impression that the music is in any way superficial. Such is not the case; the work is inventive and very accessible and in the second movement depths of feeling are plumbed.…
Textura Magazine reviews Jonathan Leshnoff’s Symhony No. 3 and Piano Concerto recording featuring the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Stephen Powell, and Joyce Yang: “Any classical pianist hearing the concerto would likely salivate at the prospect of performing it. In this iteration, Joyce Yang delivers a riveting performance others would be hard pressed to better. … The opening movement dazzles from the start, with Yang expertly voicing chiming figures over insistent strings and the syncopated…
Audiophile Audition‘s Steven Ritter gives ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to Leshnoff: Symphony No. 3 and Piano Concerto recording from the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Stephen Powell, and Joyce Yang: “After reviewing Leshnoff’s Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon recently on another marvelous Reference issue, I was most intrigued to see what was coming next. … Leshnoff writes from the heart, but with a lot of craft and intelligence. Speaking of Samuel Barber, I think he resembles that master somewhat…
Pizzicato gives a four-star rating to Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Stephen Powell, and Joyce Yang’s recording of Jonathan Leshnoff’s Symphony No. 3 and Piano Concerto: “Jonathan Leshnoff’s music needs no explanation, as it speaks for itself and immediately appeals to the listener. Although it is quite complex, it is imaginatively and brilliantly orchestrated and to be remembered with very reflective passages as well as with rhythmic pulsation. … It is again evident in Leshnoff’s four-movement…
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7; Bates: Resurrexit
Mark Donahue & John Newton, engineers; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)