These expertly recorded and vividly etched performances can be confidently recommended. HRAudio Sound 4.5/5

Miraculous Metamorphoses 

Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber 

Prokofiev The Love for Three Oranges—Suite Bartók The Miraculous Mandarin—Suite

 

Michael Stern 

Kansas City Symphony

 

A SUPERB NEW ORCHESTRAL RELEASE

 

SAN FRANCISCO - This magnificent new symphonic recording with the Kansas City Symphony contains three classic modern masterpieces. It is also the premiere recording made in the orchestra's new home, Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri. Conductor Michael Stern's interpretations of these great works have been captured in brilliant HDCD sound by GRAMMY®–winning engineer Keith O. Johnson. Producer David Frost won GRAMMY awards in 2005, 2009, 2011 and 2014 for Classical Producer of the Year.

 

This is Reference Recordings' fourth release with the Kansas City Symphony, and we are most honored to work with them again. The Kansas City Symphony is the region's only full-time professional symphony orchestra, setting the standard for musical excellence. Led by Music Director Michael Stern since 2005, the Symphony has experienced impressive artistic growth, garnering national and international acclaim.

 

The orchestra's 80 full-time musicians are area residents, and each season they touch the hearts of more than a million people through their concerts, educational programs and community outreach performances. They also serve as the orchestra for the Lyric Opera and the Kansas City Ballet.

 

For 38 years, Reference Recordings has been one of the most innovative and respected independent labels in the music business. Founded on the premise that most commercial recordings sound nothing like the live performance experience, Reference Recordings releases have been widely and lavishly praised for their dedication to high quality sound in the service of great music.

 

Founder Tam Henderson (1998 GRAMMY® nominee for Producer of the Year), was joined in 1978 by engineer Keith O. Johnson. Some 130 projects later, RR is still recording what many consider to be the finest-sounding classical, jazz and blues discs in the world.

 

Track Listing:

Paul Hindemith

Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber

1 Allegro 2 Turandot: Scherzo

3 Andantino 4 March

Sergei Prokofiev

The Love for Three Oranges—Suite

5 The Odd Fellows 6 Infernal Scene 

7 March 8 Scherzo 

9 The Prince and the Princess 10 Flight 

Béla Bartók

11 The Miraculous Mandarin—Suite

 

REVIEWS: "Whether allowing the glow of woodwinds as they replicate the mysterious Mandarin in Bartok's incredibly powerful and violent ballet, the muted trumpets emphasising the cynicism of Prokofiev in his The Love of Three Oranges Suite, or the decay into deep black sensuousness from the multiple percussion in the Turandot Scherzo movement of Hindemith's wonderful Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber, you'll hear these seminal pieces anew. The recording is that good."--Anthony Kershaw, Audiophilia.com

 

"...some of the best playing yet heard from the Symphony. The ensemble is crisp and visceral, lyrical when called upon combined with Stern's trademark brisk yet not excessive tempi...Michael Stern's very first concert as Music Director included a performance of the Hindemith "Metamorphosis" that wowed the audience. This one is even better with the orchestra's now trademark sparkling winds, burnished brass and ringing, clean percussion...The clarion horn calls over the chattering winds in the March finale are just breathtaking, simply one of those recording moments you just have to put on repeat and relish as long as you can...Performances that can stand with the best of them and sonics that sound fabulous...combine for another Reference Recordings/Kansas City Symphony "hit"." -- Don Clark, donaldopato.blogspot.com