Archive for One Movement Symphonies
A Stereophile Rave for One Movement Symphonies
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…
Concerto Net Gives 4 Stars to One Movement Symphonies
Concerto Net gives a four-star review to the Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern’s One Movement Symphonies recording: “Each of these stylistically different composers solves the challenges this form would inherently present, and each proves it to be a liberating and artistically durable form for their eras.… Conductor Michael Stern’s exquisite pacing in this performance points up the specificness of Barber’s command of the concept… Barber’s oceanic strings and coloratura brass find the composer at…
Five Stars for One Movement Symphonies from BBC Music Magazine
Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony’s One Movement Symphonies recording gets a Five Star review from BBC Music Magazine: “this orchestra offers here a classy standard of playing, plus the conductor-and-orchestra chemistry that’s needed to generate musical results as memorable as these, and in three very different works. … The Kansas players respond superbly to [Samuel Barber’s] virtuoso drive and momentum, with a burnished fullness of tone which also brings out the best qualities…
Four Stars for One Movement Symphonies from AllMusic Guide
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 Reviews One Movement Symphonies
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…
The Arts Desk Reviews “One Movement Symphonies”
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…
One Movement Symphonies Gets Five Stars from Audiophile Audition!
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 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…
An 11 out of 10 for Kansas City Symphony’s One Movement Symphonies release!
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…
All About the Arts Reviews One Movement Symphonies
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…
Art Music Lounge Review for One Movement Symphonies
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,…