Miraculous Metamorphoses
Paul HINDEMITH (1895-1963)
Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber (1943) [20:39]
Sergei PROKOFIEV (1891-1953)
The Love for Three Oranges – Suite (1925) [16:26]
Béla BARTÓK (1881-1945)
The Miraculous Mandarin – Suite (1928) [17:36]
Kansas City Symphony/Michael Stern
rec. 5-11 February, 2012, Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Kansas City, Missouri. HDCD
REFERENCE RECORDINGS RR-132 [54:45]
Last year I was impressed by a recording by Michael Stern and the Kansas
City Symphony (review).
On that occasion their programme consisted of English music. Now Keith
O. Johnson has recorded them again for Reference Recordings in a programme
of demanding and colourful twentieth century orchestral showpieces. The
earlier recording was made in the Community of Christ Auditorium in Independence,
Missouri in 2011 but since then the orchestra has moved into its new home,
the Helzberg
Hall in the Kaufmann Center for the Performing Arts, which was opened
in September 2011. That’s the venue for this present recording.
Stern has selected a challenging and exciting programme. Despite its rather
unwieldy title the Hindemith piece has become established as a virtuoso
showpiece. At the start of the first of the four movements I thought that
the sound was somewhat lacking in bass amplitude but when I turned up
the volume control a couple of notches this problem disappeared. In the
Turandot: Scherzo the percussion is especially well caught in
the recording and the complex layers of the score come across very well,
especially all the background trilling. This is an excellent performance,
not least in the jazzy fugato which is crisp and taut – the timpani
at the climax of this section have terrific presence. There’s some
fine string tone to enjoy in the third movement and also good woodwind
solo work, particularly from the first flute and clarinet. The March finale
is jaunty and full of vitality with the horn section covering itself in
glory. Stern and his players put the music across with dash and no little
brilliance. This score has been a favourite of mine ever since I first
encountered it through Abbado’s Decca recording over forty years
ago. I enjoyed this Kansas performance very much.
There’s much to admire in the Prokofiev too. The Infernal Scene
is powerful, spiky and sinister, the music benefiting from vivid playing
and recorded sound. The famous jaunty little March comes over very well:
the players seem to relish it. There’s finesse and warmth in The
Prince and the Princess where Prokofiev gives full rein to his bittersweet
lyrical side. Finally, Flight is despatched with great drive
and energy. Overall, this suite is done very well. The playing is crisp
and pointed and the orchestra puts the music across convincingly.
Bartók’s lurid tale is heard in the suite form rather than
the complete ballet. Perhaps choral forces were not available but there
would have been ample room for the complete score on this disc. Stern
leads a good account of the suite even if, perhaps, the hairs don’t
quite stand up on the back of the listener’s neck. The opening is
feverish, with Bartók’s garish scoring well realised. Later
on the savage elements of the score come over well – the appearance
of the Mandarin is suitably powerful – but the way the more delicate
passages are done is just as noteworthy. For example, the woodwind soloists
shine on many occasions, one such point being the sinuous, atmospheric
clarinet solo that begins at 2:30. Equally, the girl’s tentative,
frightened dance before the Mandarin is played sensitively. Inevitably,
though, in this particular score it’s the way the savage, pungent
passages are played that stick in the mind and the Kansas players acquit
themselves well in this respect with the snarling brass making a strong
impact. The chase in the last couple of minutes is very strongly projected.
The strings really dig in at the start and Stern drives the music forward
almost brutally with the brass snarling and sniping in the background
and the percussion impelling everything onwards. The very detailed and
present recorded sound is a huge asset in a passage such as this.
Stern faces tough competition in this programme. I see Dan Morgan was
very taken with Edward Gardner’s recent Melbourne recording of the
Bartók suite, which I’ve not heard, while reminding us of
the imposing presences in the catalogue of the Abbado and Boulez versions
(review).
In the Hindemith competition again comes from many sources, including
Abbado in his 1968 LSO/Decca recording, now reissued on Australian Eloquence
and sounding mightily impressive in all respects, not least the engineering
(ELQ4806611). As for the Prokofiev suite, it recently turned up in an
all-Prokofiev programme that Dave Billinge admired (review)
and this is but one of several recommendable available recordings. In
short, all three pieces are well represented in the catalogue already.
However, this Reference Recordings disc offers, for one thing, the convenience
of assembling these three important scores together. More than that, though
the Kansas City Symphony may yield to the likes of the LSO and the Chicago
Symphony in terms of sheer virtuosity their performances here are very
good indeed and do full justice to the scores: no one buying this disc
will feel short-changed in that respect. Then there’s the question
of the sound, which is very impressive indeed.
Listening again to the previous disc of Vaughan Williams and Elgar I have
the impression that the acoustic in which those performances were recorded
was a bit more resonant whereas the acoustic in the Helzberg Hall seems
to be clean and very clear though not in any way cold and analytical.
Engineer Keith O. Johnson and producer David Frost, who were responsible
for both recordings have once again done an excellent job. The sound on
this new disc is very impressive: it has impact and presence, an abundance
of detail registers while at the same time the ‘big picture’
of the sound of the whole orchestra is conveyed very convincingly.
Once again the booklet notes have been written by Richard Freed and they’re
a model of their kind. The notes about each piece are packed with information
– though not so much as to be indigestible – and his enthusiasm
for the music is very evident.
The disc offers relatively short playing time but don’t be deterred
by that. This is an impressively played and engineered programme and the
convenience of having these three works on the same disc is not to be
sneezed at. If the programme attracts you as much as it attracts me I
don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I see from Michael Stern’s
biography on the orchestra’s website
that their next Reference release will be devoted to the music of Saint-Saëns.
Since the Helzberg Hall boasts a substantial brand new organ, made by
the Canadian firm Casavant Frère, it seems likely that Saint-Saëns’
Third Symphony has been selected to show off the orchestra’s new
home. The piece should sound mightily impressive in a ‘Prof. Johnson
24-Bit’ recording. For now, however, this present disc is well worth
hearing.
John Quinn
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