Jedyna taka w całej literaturze muzycznej kompozycja, prezentująca orkiestrę we wszystkich jej odsłonach! Nagranie obowiązkowe dla każdego Melomana! Dzięki fantastycznej jakości nagrania - żaden instrument się Państwu nie ukryje, a każdy zaprezentuje najpełniej jak potrafi. Orkiestra przestanie mieć jakiekolwiek tajemnice! Z jednorodnej ściany dźwięku - zamieni sie w eksplodującą barwami i odcieniami muzyczną rafę koralową.
This is an impressive recording of these frequently encountered pieces. The Young Person's Guide features excellent solo work from all departments, and a clarity of texture akin to Britten's own recording. Michael Stern's ability to let us hear not just the tunes but the imaginative colors of Britten's accompaniments gives the music additional substance and continuity. The outer movements of the Sinfonia da requiem have real lyrical eloquence, though the central Dies irae could be a touch nastier, as could the "Storm" from the Four Sea Interludes.
Still, in this latter work Stern's decision to play the Passacaglia between "Moonlight" and the "Storm" makes a great deal of sense, and the remaining movements have the same remarkable level of detail and color as The Young Person's Guide. "Sunday Morning" has a particularly lively bounce, and in "Moonlight" you can actually hear the triplet rhythm of those little exclamations for xylophone and winds. Of course, the amazingly lifelike sonics help, but their very naturalness shows that credit for the interpretations belongs to conductor and orchestra and not the engineers. A first-rate experience, on both audiophile and musical grounds.
--David Hurwitz classicstoday.com
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The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is a symphonic tour-de-force and audio spectacular, featuring all sections of the symphony, separately and together. Based on a famous theme by Henry Purcell, Britten writes in essence his “Concerto for Orchestra,” taking the ensemble apart, then reassembling it in a grand and jubilant finale. Dynamic range is extreme.
Britten was a dedicated pacifist, and the Sinfonia da requiem from 1940 is his musical plea for peace. It begins with stark and dramatic drumbeats that will be a test for even the finest sound systems, and builds to tremendous climaxes. This early work is regarded by many as the finest of all his orchestral scores.
Peter Grimes, Britten’s most popular opera, is heard most often in the orchestral Sea Interludes and Passacaglia, some of his most haunting and atmospheric orchestral music. “Prof.” Johnson’s transparent sonics allow one to “hear into” all these scores as never before.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of this new recording is the exceptional performance by Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony. RR has made many fine orchestral recordings, and we feel that this is one of our very best.
This new release was produced by four-time Grammy Award winner David Frost. Frost says he is honored to work with engineer Keith Johnson for the first time, and is full of enthusiasm for the sound quality of the masters.
REVIEWS: "In a brilliant display of orchestral power and poetry from the country's heartland, Michael Stern leads the Kansas City Symphony in an all-Britten programme that speaks eloquently . . . As always with this great audiophile label, the skill and commitment of Reference's recording team need to be accorded special recognition. In either stereo or HDCD, the sound is better than being in the hall: rich in detail, gold in colour and equal to any volume." --Laurence Vittes, Gramophone
"The (Guide) is a delight, a voyage of discovery through the resources marshalled by a modern symphony orchestra. . . The Kansas City Symphony...is pretty much flawless in its execution of music which depends so much on the beauty of the instruments... The sound is of great help as well... more than once the music and the sound gave me major goose bumps... Perhaps you'll have the epiphany I did, and if you do, it can change your life." --Gerard Rejskind, Ultra High Fidelity (Canada)