Kansas City’s finest musicians have classical CDs to delight many on your gift list
The holidays are fast approaching, and some of Kansas City’s finest musicians have released new CDs that would make terrific gifts for the music lover on your list. From Beethoven and Russian choral music to Indian ragas and music inspired by the Kabbalah, these CDs will appeal to the traditional and the adventurous.
Opus 76 - Complete Beethoven String Quartets
There’s something audacious about Kansas City’s Opus 76 recording the complete Beethoven String Quartets. As violinist Keith Stanfield, who founded the Opus 76 quartet only three years ago, says, the Beethoven String Quartets are the “Super Bowl” of classical chamber music. Most string quartets don’t even try tackling them until after many years of experience.
But over the summer, in the middle of a pandemic, Opus 76 took the plunge and embarked on a series of performances of Beethoven’s quartets at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and recorded all of them. Those recordings are now available on a masterfully produced nine-CD set available at the Opus 76 web site. They are also available as downloads from iTunes.
Part of the reason Opus 76 thought it was urgent to take on this mammoth project was to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth this year. But the other reason was … why wait?
“We thought we may as well start with the good stuff,” Stanfield said. “We don’t need to work up to it. Let’s just dive in and become expert at the things we’re passionate about.”
These are certainly passionate performances, fully expressing all of Beethoven’s many emotions from the the lighthearted and jocular to the feverish and intense. Stanfield, who played soccer for Western Samoa in the 2010 World Cup, brings an athlete’s perspective to these challenging works.
“It’s really like being a professional racing driver or a professional golfer,” he said. “You have to be able to take the leap and try the Hail Mary pass.”
This set of CDs is most certainly a touchdown, and one can hardly wait for what this all-star team attempts next.
Jonathan Leshnoff: Symphony No. 3
Jonathan Leshnoff is one of the most fascinating contemporary classical composers. His music is often inspired by Kabbalah, a highly symbolic and numerological system of Jewish mysticism.
Michael Stern has been a champion of Leshnoff’s music for many years and has conducted several of his works with the Kansas City Symphony. Stern and the Kansas City Symphony have just released a new CD that features two of Leshnoff’s works, which they commissioned and gave world premieres: the Symphony No. 3 and Piano Concerto.
The Symphony No. 3 is a vocal symphony, featuring baritone Stephen Powell. The texts are moving letters that were written home during World War I, taken from the archives of Kansas City’s World War I Museum.
The Piano Concerto, given a performance by Joyce Wang, is suffused with Kabbalah, especially the second movement. Leshnoff explains the influence in the liner notes. But this lyrical concerto is accessible and can be appreciated by anyone, especially those with a taste for concertos by Prokofiev and Ravel.
There is no record label with higher audiophile standards than Reference Recordings. They’ve recorded the Kansas City Symphony many times in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, and they know how to make the orchestra shine. The sonics on this recording are superb, especially on the surround sound Super Audio version, which transforms your living room into Helzberg Hall.
Jonathan Leshnoff: Symphony No. 3; Piano Concerto. Michael Stern: Kansas City Symphony; Joyce Yang, piano. Reference Recordings
Bruffy and the Chorale
Charles Bruffy must be the reincarnation of a Russian Orthodox choir director. His natural ability with Orthodox choral music is jaw-dropping and has been acknowledged with several Grammy awards. His latest recording with the Kansas City Chorale is the Requiem for Fallen Brothers by the Russian composer Alexander Kastalsky. And it’s a stunner.
It’s also something of a departure. The chorale’s other Russian Orthodox recordings have been a cappella, but this is a collaborative effort with massed forces that make a glorious sound. Leonard Slatkin, no less, leads the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and several other choirs join the Kansas City Chorale.
Kastalsky’s Requiem, written to memorialize the victims of World War I, hasn’t been heard for more than 100 years, but it’s not just a historical curiosity. It’s a riveting masterpiece that can hold us in thrall today. Bruffy and the Kansas City Chorale make us proud once again with this Grammy-worthy recording.
Charles Bruffy and the Kansas City Chorale - Alexander Kastalsky: Requiem for Fallen Brothers. Charles Bruffy: Kansas City Chorale, Saint Tikhon Choir, Cathedral Choral Society, The Clarion Choir; Leonard Slatkin: Orchestra of St. Luke’s; Slatkin, Leonard; Anna Dennis, soprano; Joseph Beutel, bass-baritone. Naxos.
Purna Loka Ensemble - Metaraga
Indian-born violinist Purnaprajna Bangere is not only an accomplished musician but also a professor of mathematics at the University of Kansas. On Metaraga, Bangere combines his deep knowledge of music and math, specifically algebraic geometry, to create a new form of music that transcends genres, whether Indian, jazz or classical. A “music with no east or west,” as Bangere writes in the liner notes.
The notes provide a good explanation of Bangere’s complex techniques and theories. But as with Leshnoff, Bangere’s music is completely accessible to even the most casual listener. This is heart as well as head music, and has a steadying, calming effect, which is so welcome in these anxious times.
Bangere leads his Purna Loka Ensemble, which includes popular local bass player Jeff Harshbarger, percussionist Amit Kavthekar and violinist David Balakrishnan, founder of the Turtle Island String Quartet.
Metaraga. Purna Loka Ensemble. Origin.
You can reach Patrick Neas at patrickneas@kcartsbeat.com and follow his Facebook page, KC Arts Beat, at www.facebook.com/kcartsbeat.