Customer Reviews

Orff: Carmina Burana

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Question: There are so many recordings of Carl Orff's CARMINA BURANA, why buy another?

Answer: Because this is generally an outstanding recording. Conductor Marin Alsop takes a dynamic approach to this score and her interpretation brims with audacious, snappy energy. However, the (usually top-shelf) Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra sounds a little scrappy at times, as does the (generally outstanding) chorus. I will excuse all of that, however, as I firmly believe that a performance can still be exciting and worthwhile without being pin-point perfect.

Speaking of "perfect," the sound on this recording must certainly be near it. This disc features luxurious, expansive stereo and deliciously rich bass. It's one of the best engineered CARMINA's I've ever heard; this is definitely one you're going to want to crank up.

By the way, the soloists (Claire Rutter, Tom Randle and Markus Eiche) are all excellent.

Long story short: despite some minor performance flaws, this is a well-rounded, well-recorded, satisfying reading. At Naxos's bargain price, there's no reason not to give this recording a go, even if you own 20 CARMINA BURANAS already.

Why Marin Alsop continues to record warhorses such as this when there is so much other great classical music just begging to be heard, is beyond me. The competition in Carmina Burana is so fierce, this recording just gets lost in the shuffle. The orchestra is certainly good, but the interpretation is forgettable. The soloists sound uninspired as well -- as if they too know that this is just another "workmanlike" undertaking. With so many great renditions of this composition available -- such as Robert Shaw's with the Atlanta Symphony on Telarc or Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos on EMI -- this recording becomes completely unnecessary.

Actually, Maestra Alsop has done very commendable work recording pieces by contemporary composers. Here's hoping she'll do more of that in the future instead of spending her energy on the "core" repertoire -- where she's outclassed on every side.

What is it about Carmina Burana that makes it so popular? I can still remember hearing it the first time when I was a college student in the 1950s and it was like being hit in the gut. It became a huge hit on our campus and I even participated in a performance of it with student forces. I also remember one night of drinking and snuggling to strains of Orff's masterpiece; the music seemed particularly appropriate somehow. In the ensuing more than fifty years I've never heard or seen a bad performance of it. Something about it makes it bullet-proof. And there's something for everyone in the score: the big lush orchestral and choral outbursts, the chamber music passages with delicate bell sounds, the pounding drums, the passages for almost-unaccompanied solo voices and best of all the many memorable melodies and driving rhythms. And then there's the text which is lewd, lascivious, religious, celebratory, amorous, tender, primitive, barbarous and everything in between. That the text is in Latin and old German makes it more palatable for the prudes amongst us. (Although I remember shocking a little old lady with an off-the-cuff translation of one of the more, erm, interesting bits.) And who can forget the roast swan?

So, how do Alsop and Bournemouth orchestra, chorus, children's chorus and soloists do with this score. Magnificently! There is plenty of vigor and snap in the louder parts and delicate tenderness in such passages as the Vera leta facies. Alsop certainly has the measure of the piece. I mustn't forget to mention the fine soloists: Claire Rutter, soprano; Tom Randle, tenor (who was so wonderful in the recent DVD of Britten's 'Gloriana'; here a fine roast swan), and Markus Eiche, baritone. And the sound recording is possibly the best feature of all even though it is not in SACD. This is a clear, rich, present, resounding and yet transparent sound world. Huzzah to the producer, Tim Handley, and the engineer, Phil Rowlands.

This is a no-brainer: Buy it!

Scott Morrison

Owner of about 50 recordings of the Carmina, I was expecting to be impressed by this newest attempt, but was dissapointed. This reading was mechanical, flavorless, lacking in lust and luster. The performers were, to say the least, not enthusiastic, and didn't seem to enjoy the piece. Percussion, a key element of the work, was lost in the background. (That gong in "obumbrata el velata" or the timpani in the Tanz, or everywhere for that matter, are ... let's say timid.) The Bournemouth SO did much better back in 1995 under Hill. Alsop has managed to turn it into a bland, lifeless, bored ensemble.