Kansas City Symphony

Michael Stern, Kansas City Symphony – Sullivan, Sibelius: Shakespeare’s The Tempest (2008)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:08:43 minutes | 1,18 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Reference Recordings

“I doubt there’s an orchestra in America that has grown this much this fast. They sounded terrific.” —Paul Horsley, Kansas City Star

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Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern – Adam Schoenberg: American Symphony, Finding Rothko, Picture Studies (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/176,4 kHz | Time – 01:04:57 minutes | 1,80 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Reference Recordings

One of the top 10 most performed living classical composers in the United States, Adam Schoenberg was commissioned by the Kansas City Symphony to write the American Symphony and Picture Studies featured here, a collaboration with conductor Michael Stern that Schoenberg calls “extraordinary.” The performances were brilliantly captured by the Grammy-winning team of engineer Keith O. Johnson and producer David Frost.

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Kansas City Symphony & Michael Stern – Barber, Sibelius & Scriabin: One Movement Symphonies (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/176,4 kHz | Time – 01:02:32 minutes | 1,61 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Reference Recordings

Reference Recordings proudly presents a unique album of one movement symphonies composed by Barber, Sibelius and Scriabin, in an outstanding interpretation from Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony. The album was produced by David Frost and recorded by RR’s engineering team. Music Director Michael Stern is in his second decade with the Kansas City Symphony, hailed for its remarkable artistic ascent, original programming, organizational development and stability, as well as the extraordinary growth of its varied audiences since his tenure began. The Kansas City Symphony has a vision to transform hearts, minds and its community through the power of symphonic music.

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Kansas City Symphony & Michael Stern – Holst: The Planets, Op. 32, H. 125 & The Perfect Fool Suite, Op. 39, H. 150 (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/176,4 kHz | Time – 01:01:22 minutes | 1,64 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Reference Recordings

Reference Recordings proudly presents Holst’s best known and beloved works in an outstanding interpretation from Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony. This release was recorded in the beautiful and acoustically acclaimed Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. It was produced by David Frost, six-time winner of the Classical Producer of the Year GRAMMY® award. It was recorded by RR’s engineering team, comprised of GRAMMY® winning engineer and Technical Director Keith O. Johnson, and multi-GRAMMY® nominated engineer Sean Martin. This is the seventh in Reference Recordings’ series with Kansas City Symphony. Previous albums are “Shakespeare’s Tempest”; the Grammy® Award-winning “Britten’s Orchestra”; an Elgar/Vaughan Williams project; “Miraculous Metamorphoses”; an all-Saint-Saëns album featuring the magnificent Organ Symphony, and the music of contemporary American composer Adam Schoenberg (nominated for two Grammy® Awards).

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Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern – Elgar: Enigma Variations; Vaughan Williams: The Wasps; Greensleeves (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/176,4 kHz | Time – 01:01:11 minutes | 1,57 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Reference Recordings

The universe is not exactly desperate for more recordings of this repertoire, but this one, surprising as it might seem, is pretty excellent. Michael Stern and his Kansas City Symphony take to the music as if to the manner born. The Wasps, here given as the complete suite and not just the overture, is delightful. Perhaps the only slight miscalculation in the entire performance is the overly swift March Past of the Kitchen Utensils, which loses some of its comic swagger at Stern’s tempo. Otherwise the overture and (especially) the Ballet and Final Tableau offer pure enjoyment from start to finish. The Fantasia on Greensleeves, un-killable in just about any circumstances, sounds just fine as well.

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