Following a Recording of the Month distinction and a fantastic new interview, Michael Wilkinson joins the chorus of MusicWeb International critics in praising Jonathan Leshnoff: Symphony No. 3; Piano Concerto recording with the Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, Joyce Yang, and Stephen Powell:
“When first heard, Leshnoff provides music overwhelmingly tonal, rich in melody, with a confident momentum. It is exciting in both variety of timbres and in its immediacy. Repeated hearings reveal new depths of expression – real emotional engagement without lapses into sentimentality. … Sound, unsurprisingly, is robust, but in the Concerto, Joyce Yang is never overwhelmed. Her playing is suitably forceful, but the slow movement, with the title ‘Neshama’, which is Hebrew for ‘breathing soul’, the third level (of five) of soul in Jewish mysticism, has a poised simplicity, a meditative quality wonderfully captured. The concerto overall deserves to be widely performed – even the most conservative concert-goer would enjoy its riches. … Leshnoff’s Symphony No. 3 … has a long development from its string beginning to a powerful climax… splendidly captured in SACD sound.”
—Michael Wilkinson, MusicWeb International