Kansas City Symphony, Michael Stern, on Reference Recordings

This collection of English orchestral works from Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony is such a wonderful follow up disc to their 2009 Britten collection. Superlative Reference Recordings HDCD sound is just the beginning. And to that point I must admit to being extremely disappointed this wasn't initially released in SACD as was their Britten recording, which is one of the most spectacular SACDs ever made. But, not to worry - amazingly this HDCD-encoded CD is so good I can't image SACD being a significant improvement; it is absolutely sensational. Warm, rich, full-bodied, detailed, airy, with positively gorgeous colors and spectacular hall ambiance/acoustic. Layers upon layers of orchestral texture help give the illusion that you are sitting right there, mid hall, live. Perhaps the bass drum in the Wasps suite is almost too much of a good thing, but when it is so cushioned on air, one can't help enjoy the extravagance - it's kind of like eating a piece of chocolate fudge after a nice healthy salad!

As to the performances, they are equally superlative. How fantastic to have the very rare suite from the Wasps, along with the famous Overture. And that overture is absolutely the equal of the famous Vernon Handley/LPO version that always gets played on the radio. Very exciting, yet noble in the central section, and, again, aided by the fantastic sound. The Enigma Variations is also excellent (complete with sensational organ in the last variation). This conductor really has a feel for this music and it shows. The Kansas City Symphony is fantastic under his direction: extremely refined, responsive and colorful. Stern allows his principal winds to shine in their moments of glory all through this music.

All in all, this is surely a disc of the year candidate. I rarely have time to listen to new discs more than once before moving on the others in my stacks, but I have already listened to this one three times. It's that good. I can't get enough of this gorgeous and yet exciting music making, and the luxurious sound. Buy this CD, turn it up, and simply sit back and enjoy a real treat.
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A quick word about that aforementioned Britten disc, which I still think this is one of the most spectacular-sounding SACDs ever produced - aside from a slightly over-blown bass drum (an annoying characteristic of this label which I wish they would put a stop to). The performances are so atmospheric and colorful, replete with rich, golden brass and silky, airy strings. Indeed the Peter Grimes excerpts are simply magnificent. And for this release, Reference Recordings did it right in issuing the hybrid SACD/CD from the get-go, rather than adopting their recent, absurd (and surely uneconomical) practice of releasing the CD first, then several months later, the SACD.
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Alas, not all is well in Kansas City all the time. Their 2014 disc is an enticing program of Hindemith, Prokofiev and Bartok. I purchased the HDCD when it was first issued, incorrectly assuming RR was not going to release this one on SACD. And let me state unequivocally my extreme irritation with Reference Recordings for not issuing the hybrid SACD/CD from the get-go, rather than the CD first, then the SACD months later. Not only is it a stupid idea for consumers, but one would think it would be expensive to produce. But whatever. 

I don't know if Reference Recordings is having some issues down-converting the 5-channel surround recording to 2-channel CD, but this recording has some problems. It sounds to me like we are hearing more of what the engineers want the Kansas City Symphony to sound like than Michael Stern does. The Hindemith is more brass-prominent, with the string details very difficult to hear. But then in the Bartok, the strings are spotlit way forward (and overly fulsome) and the brass nearly disappear altogether into the distance. Are the Kansas City strings so scrawny that they need this much highlighting? It is completely unnatural and certainly unnecessary. The Prokofiev sounds the most natural here. I wish the engineers would have kept the spotlight mics turned off and their fingers off the controls and just let Michael Stern have his way with balances.

But the real problem here is the bass drum. It is miced so closely and prominently that it overwhelms the orchestra every time it is struck. And not in an impressive, sock-to-the-gut way that Telarc mastered in its day. No, this is a loose, flabby, boomy, over-reverberant sound that over-saturates the soundfield in a most unpleasant way. On small speakers which do not produce true low bass, this may not be as big a problem. But with full-range systems, this is really a problem.

And finally, with only 54 minutes on offer, there was plenty of room for the complete Bartok ballet, rather than just the suite.

With all that said, the concert is enjoyable and the symphony plays well. Stern could perhaps have produced a little more fire and energy throughout the entire program, however - everything is a bit too refined and smooth. If only Reference had significantly reduced the bass drum content in the recording, one could turn up the volume more and that might have helped project the sound of the orchestra to great overall effect. But, alas, as it is, that's impossible without the bass blasting one out of the room (and dishes off the shelves).

All in all, I found this CD a great disappointment. I wish Reference Recordings would go back to its roots: give up on multi-channel recording, and get back to natural, 2-channel sound - and quit fiddling with things.
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A quick addendum regarding Stern's first disc for Reference Recordings in 2008. Presenting the most imaginative and adventurous program of all, we get to hear two complete rarities (at least to me): Arthur Sullivan's incidental music for The Tempest, coupled with 2 suites of the same title by Sibelius. I was not familiar with either work, so am not qualified to provide in-depth analysis. Suffice it to say this music is glorious and the recording is a sonic knock-out. Superlative playing and HDCD sound, this one, along with the Britten, is not to be missed. Incidentally, I do not see this one was ever produced on SACD. But I am more than happy with the HDCD-encoded CD. It is superlative.