In Saturday’s (6/23) Kansas City Star, Patrick Neas writes that the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts has “more than lived up to the hype” following its opening in September 2011. “The Kansas City Symphony, conducted by Michael Stern, turned out one outstanding concert after another, and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and the Kansas City Ballet were inspired to present some of their finest efforts…. One of the hallmarks of the Harriman-Jewell series over the years has been the international orchestras it has brought to Kansas City. Unfortunately, hearing those orchestras in the much older Music Hall with its muddy acoustics often left audiences wondering why the visiting orchestras were such big deals. This year, the series presented the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in Helzberg Hall, and all the brilliant orchestral colors were vividly on display…. This past season you could feel the joy in audiences as they left the Kauffman Center, gawking at the stunning vista of the city from the lobby on their way out. People will return to the Kauffman Center and not just to gaze at Moshe Safdie’s masterpiece, gorgeous though it is, but to enjoy the music for which it was built.” PBS is set to air “Homecoming: The Kansas City Symphony Presents Joyce DiDonato” at 6 p.m. on July 20.
Posted June 25, 2012
