Classical Voice North America reviews the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Stephen Powell, and Joyce Yang’s world premiere recordings of Jonathan Leshnoff’s Symphony No. 3 and Piano Concerto: “The long-lined legato strings that open the symphony immediately bring to mind works like Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings with its tonal modulations and harmonically resolved suspended chords. It is meditative mood music. The winds, including a contrabassoon, briefly create an unusual, dark balance. French horns, trombones, winds doubling…
As we prepare for The Kansas City Symphony and Joyce Yang’s World Premiere recording of Jonathan Leshnoff’s Piano Concerto, watch a nine-part interview series between Joyce, Jonathan, and conductor Michael Stern about the genesis of the work, the recording, and more: Leshnoff: Symphony No. 3; Piano Concerto Reference Recordings® proudly presents two new works from leading American composer Jonathan Leshnoff. Distinguished by The New York Times as “a leader of contemporary American lyricism,” Leshnoff is renowned for his…
The first review is in for the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Stephen Powell, and Joyce Yang’s Leshnoff World Premiere Recordings! “Thanks to various CD’s released by Reference Recordings, I have become an admirer of the music of American composer Jonathan Leshnoff. … The impressive lineup of soloists and the sterling work of the Kansas musicians numbers immense artistic rewards in this treasure of a recording, impeccably engineered and produced by Dirk Sobatka of Soundmirror. ……
Watch a new ClassicsToday video review with David Hurwitz of the Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern’s Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool recording: See the full review on ClassicsToday.com Purchase
The Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern’s Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool gets a great review in the March/April 2020 issue of American Record Guide: “This wonderful recording sounds better and better the more you increase the volume; and somehow, that glorious sound includes both great detail and great space. We seem to be hovering just above music director Michael Stern, so individual instruments are heard vividly, and yet we never seem too close.…
The Arts Desk’s Graham Rickson reviews Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern’s recording of Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool: “Michael Stern’s Kansas City Symphony version is a blast… An audiophile’s delight as well as a musical treat, Stern gets pretty much everything right. You’ll hear things in this recording that you’ll struggle to discern on starrier versions, the marvel being that nothing feels forced or artificially spotlit. There’s a sepulchral brass chorale a few…
Gramophone Magazine started the New Year with a January 2020 review for the Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern’s Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool in the Sounds of America section: “The Kansas City Symphony seize the day, and night, on their new recording under music director Michael Stern. Some performances of The Planets focus more on the score’s colourful surfaces than on its dramatic mysteries and jubilance but Stern’s concept pays close attention to every alluring…
The Kansas City Star’s Patrick Neas published his list of “Classical gems sure to bring joy to the holiday season” and The Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern’s Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool is at the top of his gift list! “The performance is as good as any you’re likely to hear, but this recording is a standout for the stunning sound captured by Keith O. ‘Professor’ Johnson, the legendary producer for Reference Recordings.…
Audiophile Audition gives five stars to Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony’s Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool! “The soundstage is magnificent—very wide, and perhaps the deepest recording I have ever heard.… I felt as though I was really hearing the orchestra in its natural estate, and when the oboe solos, it sounds as if it is more distant in the ensemble. Time and time again, the distance factor figured into the listening experience in…
The Recording Academy announced their 60th GRAMMY® Award Nominations this morning, and Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony‘s Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio and Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony‘s recording of Adam Schoenberg’s Orchestral Music have both received multiple nominations! Best Engineered Album, Classical Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio – Mark Donahue, engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) Schoenberg, Adam: American Symphony; Finding Rothko; Picture Studies – Keith O. Johnson…
Order Now The Kansas City Symphony‘s Adam Schoenberg Orchestral Music recording is a MusicWeb International Recording of the Month! “There is no doubt that the music is technically challenging and the writing is often complex. However, it seems to me that Schoenberg’s achievement in these three scores is that he has written music that, no matter how technically demanding it may be, never leaves the listener behind. There’s absolutely no condescension to the listener yet…
Order Now “The three works on the new, vividly recorded Adam Schoenberg hybrid SACD from Reference Recordings, recorded in 24/176.4 surround and played by the Kansas City Symphony under Michael Stern, are deliciously tonal, filled with color and energy, and irrepressibly optimistic. …Schoenberg simply dazzles and delights. Plus, anyone who writes a modern-day Pictures at an Exhibition is someone every music-loving audiophile will want to check out. …the [American Symphony] is variously colorful, exciting, unabashedly…
Order Now I have dreamt of having an orchestral disc of my music since first becoming a composer. This is an extraordinary gift, and I am thrilled to be sharing my music with all of you. The three pieces that you will soon experience embody my growth from student to professional composer. They each explore different styles, but my artistic voice remains consistent throughout. Finding Rothko was written during my second year as a doctoral…
Fanfare critic Andrew Quint has named Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony’s Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 “Organ” to his 2016 year-end “Want List”: “San Francisco’s Reference Recordings, issuing musically worthy recordings in audiophile sound for more than three decades, continues its rewarding relationship with Michael Stern and the over-achieving Kansas City Symphony. This all-Saint-Saëns program is anchored by the well-worn “Organ” Symphony, played here with sure-footed metrical precision plus plenty of cinematic splendor. “Professor”…
Coming January 2017 — Adam Schoenberg: American Symphony • Finding Rothko • Picture Studies featuring Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony! Enjoy a first listen on our SoundCloud Channel: Adam Schoenberg: American Symphony • Finding Rothko • Picture StudiesKansas City SymphonyMichael SternLabel: Reference Recordings RR-139Release Date: January 20, 2017