Customer Reviews

Carl Orff: Carmina Burana

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first heard Carmina Burana in a college production back in Spring of 1965 (end of my freshman year). Like virtually everybody who hears it for the first time, I was immediately taken with Orff's secular cantata and bought Jochum's FIRST recording on Decca LP (that was a mono recording from the early 1950's - this DG stereo account didn't come along until 1967). When THIS recording came out, I bought the DG LP and discarded the Decca: the sonics were MUCH better on the re-make, and the performance sounded more fully realized.

Since then, I have seen two other stagings of Carmina Burana and heard some of the other recordings (Muti, Ozawa, Previn, etc.), but my loyalties remain with this one. Sure, the stereo sound is a little dated (a slight cut in treble smooths out the edgy highs - all in all, this CD is sonically a considerable improvement on the original LP). The recording was supervised by Orff himself, Jochum's conducting is rhythmically vigorous and exhilarating, and the soloists all sound just great to me (not perfect, but great is good enough). I still think Janowitz does the "In trutina" more appealingly than anybody else I've heard. The only other recording I have kept is the Stokowski (EMI), but that's mainly because of the coupling: "A Pagan Poem" by Charles Loeffler, a beautiful work that deserves to be better known. To my taste, the Jochum recording is preferable to Stokowski's Carmina Burana.

I don't think you can go wrong in buying this one.

Highly recommended.

This recording is far and away the best performance of Carmina Burana. The mood and feeling of each poem are incredible in their power. Both takes of "O Fortuna" are more threatening and potent than any other I have ever heard. "Fortune plango vulnera" ties with the second version of "O Fortuna" as my favorite song and "In taberna quando sumus" is a close third. are Jochum has truly recorded THE definitive Carmina Burana.

There are some very minor downsides to the recording. Occasionaly, a page turn can be heard, but I believe this only adds to the vitality of the perfomance. My one real quibble is Janowitz. The Amazon editorial review is largely correct - in Dulcissime, she sounds rather strained. It doesn't bother me as it does some people, possibly because I'm not a singer. However, Dulcissime a :34 song, and given the true brilliance of this recording, it can be easily overlooked.

Some VERY minor quibbles I have with the recording: - first, there seems to be some controversy over the spelling of the town and monestary from where the Latin text is supposed to have originated. Most liner notes translate "Carmina Burana" as "Songs from Benediktbeuren", including this version. However, some people hold that "Burana" refers to Benediktbeurn rather than -beuren, which is a more common German ending. A small difference, to be sure. Also, there are some errors in the Latin text (the full original text in Latin and sometimes German is provided, with running English translations). The earlies example is in "Fortune plango vulnera", in the third stanza, where the Latin reads "nam sub axe legimus/Hecubam reginam." The provided translation is "for under the axis is written/Queen Hecuba." Problem: legimus means "we write", not "it is written." That would be legitur. Also, in various places throughtout the text, what would be "mihi" in Classical Latin becomes "michi" in this text. I'm not a Medievalist, and I don't know if this is an alternate form or just an error. Certainly, these are insignificant issues. I only mention them because they exist - they of course do not harm the listening experience in any way.

This recording was performed in 1968. When I first listened to the recording, I didn't know that and I thought it was a more recent recording. The sound quality is beautiful. It has depth and vigor and power that is truly amaziing.

Please, don't be discouraged by any of the very minor trifles I have mentioned above. If you are looking for a recording, buy this one. Any other would be a waste of your money when this truly incredible recording is available.

These are great musicians, folks. And this is really a fantastic performance. The much touted Previn recording doesn't begin to compare, in my opinion. Just listen to Previn in "O Fortuna". It's too slow, for starters, and there's some rythmic instability in the climax in the second part that is really disconcerting. The Jochum, on the other hand, is right on the money; everything happens exactly when it should. Fischer-Dieskau is so good (as he always seems to be; does anyone else need to do Schoene Mullerin after FD and Gerald Moore?; or the Mahler Wunderhorn songs?) it's just no contest.

Maybe just like most other people, I heard bits of the first piece of "Carmina Burana" - I think it was as part of a chocolate commercial (back in Germany). When I saw that that was actually the very first piece, I wondered what could possibly come after that, and I did a bit of research into what the music was all about. The result of that search made it all the more interesting: It's medival poems and songs, partly in Latin, partly in old German, set to the music of Carl Orff.

I went through a bunch of other recordings of "Carmina Burana" until I finally found this one. This one is the best. I mean you can complain about aspects of it, but with the composer working with the conductor it's a bit hard to say anything meaninful. If you don't like the way this sounds then maybe you just don't like the full piece. For example, I've seen people praise other recordings because they sounded "less teutonic". That's quite a ridiculous comment - after all, that's what it's supposed to sound like. And it's Latin (or old German) and that's just what Latin sounds like.

So I can only recommend this recording, it's quite impressive, and it's quite heavy in the percussion - make sure to listen to it loud at least once.

After spending about a year in places where there isn't a single performance of Carmina Burana to be found (yes, there are still some left here on Earth) I decided that this indeed was an opportune time to find the one ultimate performance of the piece that fits me best. I was coming into selection process completely fresh, remembering from my previous Levine version nothing but the fact that way back then I really liked it. So I took 12 versions of Carmina Burana, and started comparing them side by side, in three stages, being aware that the first one I'd listen to would have a better chance to influence my judgment. Among versions I had in front of me were Muti's, my old Levine, Fruhbeck de Burgos's, two Jochum's, couple of lesser known ones from former Czechoslovakia, Shaw's, and three more that I just don't remember. I wish I also had Previn's since from skimming through reviews it appears to be of some significance but I didn't.

After "the first round" I had three to chose from: Dutoit's, Dorati's and this - so called, the Jochum/Fischer-Dieskau one. After the second round I put Dutoit aside and was facing with what in my opinion amounted to a very difficult choice. On one hand I had Dorati: a more conventional performance but of incredible energy. The baritone in Estuans interius was right on the button. Soprano performed beautifully and tenor was good too. In "O Fortuna" Dorati kept Royal Philharmonic at "reckless abandon" and I felt as though I was back on the Death Road in a convertible but going at least 120km/hour. I called this Dorati's version, "the fast one".

Then there was this, Jochum/Fischer-Dieskau's, and what I called "the spooky version" based on the tightly "horror-moviesque" whispering element in the work's famous beginning. The orchestra sounded full here, nearly as one indistinguishable instrument. The tenor in Olim lacus colueram in my opinion was absolutely unmatched, baritone and soprano however performed almost daringly different from what I was used to in other versions. Initially I was taking aback, not being sure if I liked it. But after the third or the fourth time putting it against Dorati - it began growing on me.

Of course, I'm going to keep both. Yet, if I was really forced to make a choice here - I'm pretty sure I'd go with Jochum/Fischer-Dieskau.


PS. For the other two parts of Trionfi I had two to choose from:
the old Jochum's and the more recent with Welser-Most. To my surprise, after playing them side by side, I prefered the later.

I would like to clear up some confusion: THIS IS NOT THE RECORDED PERFORMANCE THAT CARL ORFF CONDONED!! Orff attended the rehearsals of Eugen Jochum's earlier **1953** mono recording of Carmina Burana and approved that final performance. That version is available on another DGG recording of all three pieces Orff wrote in a similar vein; the album is entitled "Trionfi". The 1953 recording presents a very different version than this stereo one that Jochum recorded 15 years later in 1968 AND WHICH ORFF DID NOT HEAR!! The earlier version is grittier, perhaps not as smoothly played or expertly sung, but altogether more primal and exciting. The early mono sound of that 1953 version is very good, easily the equal of the stereo sound except for the sound-stage, and the performance is far superior. This later one is sluggish by comparison.

If you want to hear how Orff wanted this piece to sound, buy the "Trionfi" album and enjoy it. Orff certainly did!

Prior to buying this recording, I had owned the Robert Shaw/Atlanta Symphony recording on Telarc. For a long time I was satisfied with it, simply because I did not have very high expectations for this work. Then, one day, I suddenly decided that Carmina Burana is more than merely a popular classical tune. I wanted a performance that breathed life into the work, something that the Shaw recording had failed to do.

I tried several other "top" recordings before finally decided to buy this one. They included the Ormandy (Sony), Muti (EMI), and Previn (EMI). One that I wish I had the chance to try, though, is the Blomstedt recording on London. Nonetheless, after listening to these versions, I decided to buy the Jochum. To be honest, except for maybe the Ormandy, Jochum's recording does not sound as good as the others. At times, the recorded sound does show its age. However, the performance is absolutely first rate. As others have already mentioned, except for that little track of Janowitz's, everything else is great. While it'll be too pompous to say that this is the definitive recording of the work, you are really missing out on a great performance if you don't even give it a try. I hope you will decide to let Orff and Jochum take you back in time to the Middle Ages.

This is supposedly an overall excellent rendering of Carmina Burana. I happen to have 3 different recordings of C.B. including this one, so I have had the chance to compare the 3 side by side. I like C.B. a lot because I used to sing as a baritone in a choir that participated in several performances of Carmina Burana. Dieskau is no doubt excellent being one of the top lieder baritones in the world. But at least in my humble opinion, he is not as good as Jonathan Summers in the EMI recording with Ricardo Muti conducting C.B. That doesn't mean Summers is a better baritone, but for Carmina Burana I think his voice does sound better. While still being a soft and beautiful voice when needed, he has much stronger and powerful fortes than Dieskau when needed too, way much more character, and those are very important aspects of the baritone part in this piece.

On top of the excellent performance by Summers, Arleen Auger (in that same recording with Ricardo Muti conducting) sings arguably one of the most beautiful and effortless "Dulcisimas" ever sung. In comparison, the soprano in this Jochum recording screeches a horrible Dulcisima. Also, Ms. Auger's long note in "Amor volat undique" when singing "Cordis in custodiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..." is arguably one of the longest and most beautifully steadily and effortlessly uninterrupted notes ever sung. The soprano in Jochum's recording stops in the middle to breathe, as pretty much all other sopranos in the world do (actually I haven't yet heard any other recorded or live performance of any other soprano singing that note all the way without stopping in the middle the way Auger's does). Ms. Auger makes the complete soprano role in Carmina Burana seem to be the easiest and most natural thing to sing in the world, when it's an extremeley hard challenge for any soprano. You have to listen to these two recordings, Jochum and Muti, one after the other to hear the difference between not just a comfortable, but a perfect soprano voice for the role, and one that is clearly struggling to produce the highest note in the Dulcisima, making it sound way less than pretty.

The volume levels in the Ricardo Muti recording is the only significant drawback. The orchestra in several ocassions sounds way too loud. The singers do perform excellent performances as I've already mentioned, and I think the choirs as well, but their volume levels got recorded quite low with respect to the orchestra, not appropriately balanced in that respect. The recording engineers messed up this pretty bad, you need to have your remote at hand when listening to the EMI-Muti record to keep the playback volume under control to either not hurt your ears when the orchestra goes loud, and to really enjoy the solos when their turns come up.

I personally prefer the sound of the tenor in the Jochum recording than in the Muti one, but that is the least important solo in Carmina Burana, lasting only a couple of minutes, and it's just a humorous role (voice of a duck getting roasted). Overall sound balance Jochum's recording beats Muti's, but solo performances in my opinion clearly go the other way around.

I think if you really love and enjoy C.B., it is a good idea to consider getting at least 3 recordings: this one conducted by Jochum, the one by Muti, and there is another good one conducting Andre Previn. I've read that one is also highly praised, but I haven't had a chance to listen to it (planning to get it very soon to add it to my Carmina Buranas).

In any case, make sure you stay dead far away from the C.B. conducted by Eugene Ormandy. It's very dissapointing in most musical aspects, at least compared to the Jochum and Muti options (putting aside volume issues in the case of Muti). I have a SACD player so I made the mistake to buy the E.Ormandy C.B. in SACD format, it was a complete waste of money. Unfortunately it was in Best Buy, no return policy once the disk package had been opened.

Conclusion, this one by Jochum is a good way to go, but not the only one, and not the best one for certain aspects of Carmina Burana, in particular the soprano. I'd suggest don't stick to this one alone. You would be missing to much sound beauty if you don't listen to (at least) Arleen Auger and Jonathan Summers at the appropriate volume level in the EMI recording, Ricardo Muti conducting.

This performance of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana was authorized by the composer. I have not heard a better recording of this work, and this is one that I compare new ones to. The singers are supurb. Dietrich Fischer-Diekskau is the ideal baritone and adds the perfect character to the sections he sings. The tenor Gerhard Stolze is incredible in the control he maintains while singing what must be a most difficult song, that of a roasting swan.

In short, there is nothing lacking from this spirited performance.

In my years of listening to classical music, this is by far the greatest recording of Carmina Burana I have found.

Listen, people, this work is powerful and stirring. Orff knew what he was doing - his music lends great power to masterful Latin lyrics, which are thoughtfully included. Very fortunately for us listeners, Jochum and the rest carry this collection off masterfully. Excellent sound quality, especially for 1968.

You can sometimes hear a page turn or two, but I think this just adds a little life to the recording. On one occasion, this recording falls flat - hearing Janowitz on "Dulcissime" was one of the more painful experiences of my life. Unfortunate as this flaw is, the near perfection of the rest of the recording makes up for 30 seconds of squealing.

Everyone with any interest in either classical music, the Medieval period, or Latin should buy this recording. Most of the other recordings can't touch this one - this truly an incredible performance.