Kansas City Star Recommends Saint-Saëns

The Kansas City Star's Patrick Neas makes his suggestions for music to listen to this summer and the Kansas City Symphony's Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 “Organ” is on the top of his list:

“There are many recordings of Camille Saint-Saens’ Organ Symphony on the market, but Reference Recordings has just released a CD by the Kansas City Symphony that can take its place with the best of them. The KC Symphony, with superb direction from Michael Stern, sounds absolutely world-class. The orchestra has the full, rich, romantic sound that is so essential for 19th-century French music. And there is visceral excitement, too. The musicians are on fire, and they blaze with self-confidence.…as with Kraybill’s recording of French organ music released last year, the Reference engineers make Helzberg’s Casavant organ sound resplendent, giving it an aural halo and making it sound as though it were recorded in Notre Dame. Saint-Saens’ symphony is not really a showpiece for an organist’s technical skill. For that, listen to Kraybill’s solo organ CD. But the organ adds color and oomph to Saint-Saens’ orchestration, and Kraybill does what needs to be done. From the subtle glow of the third movement to the blast of triumph in the finale, the organ in this symphony is as good as it gets.…One gets the feeling that the Kansas City Symphony’s burgeoning discography will stand the test of time and that its CDs will take their place among the classics. Reference has other projects with the KC Symphony in the pipeline, and based on their collaborative efforts so far, we await them with bated breath.” —Patrick Neas, Kansas City Star

Read the full review on www.kansascity.com



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