Customer Reviews

Orff: Carmina Burana / McNair, Aler, Hagegard; Slatkin

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am not a music scholar. I am not a musician. I am not a critic. What I am is a lover of music and especially of powerful and emotive music. I listen to music not to analyze but to FEEL! I fell in love with the Carmina Burana while in college many years ago. I have searched long and hard for ANY version that captures the raw energy and powerful emotions of the bookending piece, "O, Fortuna", as well as on this recording and have found none that meet the mark. The employment and use of a thunderous gong, performed with a flair unlike any other recording that I know of is worth the price of the CD in and of itself! If you as a listener wish to buy a recording of the Carmina Burana for analytical purposes, then I haven't a clue which version to purchase. However, if your aim is to to FEEL, to EXPERIENCE, to be ABSORBED by the Carmina, then look no further. This is the one. The ONLY one!

Carl Orff's hour-long cantata "Carmina Burana" must rank as the single most popular choral work of the 20th century. Because of this, of course, there have also been many recordings of it--dozens in fact, from Eugen Jochum's 1968 recording with the Deutsche Opera of Berlin, to Andre Previn's 1974 London Symphony recording, and beyond.

For my money, though (and this is not to take away from the other great recordings of the piece on hand), the most explosive recording of this piece comes from the heartland of America. With superior vocalists Sylvia McNair, Hakan Hagegard, and John Aler on hand, Leonard Slatkin leads his St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in this 1992 recording that generates much passion and violence with its mix of sacred Latin chants and sometimes politically incorrect and profane dialogue.

The recording is spectacular from start to finish, but there are moments that I think stand out especially: "Olim Lacus Colueram", done by Aler; Hagegard's solo turn on "Ego Sum Annad Cacaniensis"; McNair's on "Dulcissime"; and the St. Louis Chorus itself on "O Fortuna", which bookends this gigantic work. It is no wonder that its medieval sound and text inspired much in the way of movie music, including THE OMEN and even parts of the music for the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy ("O Fortuna", in fact, was used in the 1981 film EXCALIBUR).

This recording is vigorously recommended, even if you already own other recordings of it. Slatkin's interpretation stands up well compared with the many other fine recordings also available.

When I moved away to college I had to give up this CD which is owned by my father (an opera style bass-baritone himself). Figuring that I could just buy another one, or one like it at least, I decided to shop online. I studied each sample track of each CD closely and compared it to this recording, and, unsurprisingly, none of them were close enough to even consider. Quite frankly, the baritone is the best I've ever heard, the saprano is the best I've ever heard, and the tenor is also the best I've ever heard. And if that isn't good enough reason to buy it, then keep in mind that the conductor's impact regarding enphasis and tempo is perfect. Don't bother doubting me and just trust me; this is the best recording available.

1. The work is very similar to an opera, highly dramatic and driven by text.

2. Opera is about voices, and this recording of Carmina has bar none the best collection of soloists on record.

3. While I do not consider myself an expert in orchestral sound or conducting, in my opinion the orchestra and chorus sound very good, not perfect, but very good. It seems to me that the style of this work does not call for an overly "constructed" sound from the orchestra. If you peruse the text you might gleen a little insight, as form should follow function. IMHO the sound from the orchestra and chorus are fitting for the meaning they are trying to convey.

4. Several people have given this recording bad ratings, and yet there seem to be a lack of noted material defect. If you think Slatkin's conducting is so bad, please fill us all in on why. Neurotic posts such as:

ONE OF THE WORST PERFORMENCES OF THIS WORK THAT THERE IS.IT IS AS IF SLATKIN WERE CONDUCTING THE SAINT LOUIS SYMPHONY WITH A HORROR MOVIE IN FRONT OF THEM.GET OZOWA/BOSTON SYNPHONY 1969 CLASSIC PERFORMENCE AND CHARLES DUTIOT/MONTREAL SYNPHONY

don't do much - and perhaps you could also do us all the favor of reaching your uncoordinated left hand pinky finger to the left of the A button and turning off caps lock, along with taking some spelling lessons. That would be just super. Thanks.

This is my favorite recording of Orff's CARMINA BURANA. No, I have not heard every commercially available recording (at the very least, I've heard snippets from many), but from what I have encountered in the past, I can enthusiastically say that THIS is the recording to own if you want to hear this work with all of the primal power you'd hope for.

Leonard Slatkin leads a top-notch St. Louis Symphony Orchestra with an almost maniacal vigor. The tempi are perhaps the quickest I've ever heard, which suits me fine. (Nothing more exciting than loud, agressive orchestral music!) Soprano Sylvia McNair is simply outstanding as is the baritone Hakan Hagegard, but I was slightly less impressed with the tenor John Aler whose vocal tone I found somewhat unappealing.

The engineering on this CD, thankfully, is bright and up front. Unlike many CARMINA recordings, the sound levels remain consistant across the board, so there won't be much need to continuously turn the volume up and down as the music alternates between loud and soft.

Highly recommended for CARMINA BURANA fans, as well as for anyone who likes a little bombast every now and again.

I would be ashamed of myself if I were the music fan from Philidelphia who doesn't know his grammar any better than he knows a quality performance. McNair is the main reason for buying this recording. She's the best. The St. Louis Symphony is the second reason for buying this recording. They're good. The fact that the Blomstedt-San Francisco recording is now out of print is the third reason for settling with the second best in the history of recording. (Even still, McNair & Hagegord are the best singers on record).

I have attended concerts, owned vinyls, owned taped versions and have this CD. This CD is so good that I bought another copy to give to our neighbors who had just attended a local concert of the piece.

The recording quality is excellent, the voices superb. I particularly enjoy the energy of the pieces. The spectral frequency range is excellent, although the volume range is too large with quiet pieces being to quiet and loud sections being overly loud. I fear this just the technical difficulty of recording such a large assembly of musicians the way the hearer perceives it.

I recommend this to anyone and everyone who admires Orff's work.

Well, I haven't heard even half the recordings of this piece that are available, but of the ones I have heard, this is by far my favorite. Slatkin's direction is right on, both musically and emotionally. The sound is very full and present, warmly enveloping in the quiet, lyrical movements, shattering and exultant in the dramatic sections. The soloists are a joy to hear, especially McNair's simple and smooth interpretation of 'In trutina' and 'Stetit puella.' And the cover art is pretty cool. Highly recommended.

By far, Carmina Burana is my favorite piece of classical music. I am not a music scholar by any means, so I cannot comment the particulars of the conducting, musicianship, or singing on this recording. All I know is that I like it, and I feel no need to search for another recording. It seems true to the piece, and the CD insert contains both the lyrics in Latin and an English translation. This may not be true for all copies of this disc, but mine came with a sampler of music from other RCA Victor classical recordings, which introduced me to pieces I have grown to like, such as Chopin's Mazurka No. 13.

A friend of mine gave me this version as a gift. At first I wasn't sure it was the version i wanted because it wasn't like the first version I heard. However, after listening to it more closely and listening to about 6 other versions PLUS all the samples available on Amazon - I've decided to come back home to this CD.

There are other performances where I may like another baritone, tenor or soprano slightly more. Having said that, this is the only recording that has all of the tempos exactly where I want them, the interpretations exactly as they should be, and the chorus has a full, rich sound. So if I had to rate this cd on all of the different factors I was looking for in a recording - it gets my vote. In a perfect world, I could just compile pieces and parts of several different recordings and get the "perfect" one. As that isn't really feasible - this is the best I've found so far.

I also recommend the Shaw/Atlanta symphony as a 9 out of 10 rating. The recording is fantastic - although I have to say the tenor is a bit icky on that one. I've heard a few London Symphony, Oper Berlin, and Wiener Philharmonic that are okay also. But this version is the one I kept comparing the others too and there'd always be something not quite right...In Taberna Quando Sumus would be too wimpy or O Fortuna too slow *shudder*. So it's a close race between this one and Shaw/Atlanta. If I could substitute the tenor out of the Shaw...this one would take 2nd place.

Sure would love to know if Karajan ever recorded Carmina tho.... that'd be something to hear!!!