Customer Reviews

Orff: Carmina Burana

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

All the elements of a great legendary recording are present on this recording of one of the most powerful, spine tingling pieces of music ever written. The Cleveland Orchestra is as always, flawless and incredibly precise. However, they play with so much conviction and passion under Tilson Thomas that I have to say this may be their best recording since Szell passed away. Tilson Thomas adds another dimension to all the bombast, don't get me wrong, he hits those big moments BIG but he also makes a point of highlighting the un-usual instrumentation, with great results. The chorus sings superbly with very clear diction and wonderful blend of tone. The soloists are the best the work has ever seen. Judith Blegen, the wonderful Metropolitan Opera soprano is so flowing and graceful in her solo it will leave you speechless, Kenneth Riegel who works through a very awkward aria with grace and poise, and Peter Binder the baritone who made me hear the baritone aria as it should be sung, as if I had never heard it before (I've heard 6 recordings of this work). I love Tilson Thomas's conducting, he brings fresh new insights into the pieces while at the same time allowing the music to speak without too much influence from the conductor. Wonderul recording that will leave you floored! Awesome recording, Highest Recommendation.

I have heard quite a few renditions of this famous choral piece and, despite this one being the first one I had ever heard (when I was but 5 or 6), I still feel it captures it best. The tempos are compelling without being hasty or forced and certianly not lagging. The bombast is just right, and as the crescendos and voices rise you can feel the hair on your neck tingle. The soloing is to weep for (and with). There is just something about the coming together of the right directorial, instrumental, and vocal forces in a piece like this that lifts it up high where it threatens to transcend the medium and exist as pure aural bliss.

For a 20th century cantata, Carl Orff's claim to fame sure is one of classical music's most recorded titles. Of the numerous recordings out there, Michael Tilson Thomas' is by far the best! The tempos are brisk and keep the listener longing for more. The audio is superb on this recording, capturing every instrument in this highly percussive piece, including the 3 glockenspiels orchestrated in track #25 "Ave Formosissima." Thomas was able to extract from the orchestra and chorus a strong sense of dynamic contrast and phrasing. Soprano Judith Blegen gives a stellar performance with her seductive chant-like phrasing. One needs not actually see baritone Peter Binder sing the role, you get a sense of his warmth and drama from listening alone! Tenor Kenneth Riegel sings (non falsetto) unlike most tenors who sing this aria, what a voice! Tilson Thomas brings to life the 13th century text with such precision, but never lacks the ever-so-crucial energy needed to sustain a truely great performance. Sample track #2 "Fortune Plango" or #7 "Floret silva" or my favorite (and a hard one to sing) #15 the extremely wordy "In Taberna." There is more to this piece than just track #1 "O Fortuna" which has been widely missused in many films. get your copy today!

In my opinion, this is the best version of Carmina Burana. I think many conductors are taking this work too seriously, and their recordings are too heavy for a piece of this kind. Tilson Thomas approaches this work more lightly and humorously, and the result is an outstandingly lively and clear. Highly recommended.

Of the various recordings I've heard of Carmina Burana, this is my favorite.Peter Binder's rendition of "Dies, nox et omnia" is simply beautiful. Judith Blegen's soprano is consistently clear and sparkling. Overall, there is an engaging sense of fun to the work. I highly recommend it.

If this is the copy of Carmina Burana which you are considering to purchase, then I'll say that you're looking at a very good rendition of the work.

Carl Orff's (1895-1982) Magnum opus is just a bit of a Stravinsky rip-off, as many critics have noted, but I still think that it stands on its own for the most part. The entire title means "Songs of the Beurens," and was generated from 13th Century secular poems written by a group of vagabonds called the "Goliards," (de-frocked monks and minstrels). The general theme of the work is a pagan "Pleasures of the Flesh".

The composition is divided into three pieces, Orff having grouped them into respective categories:

1. Spring
2. The tavern (drinking and gambling)
3. Love

The overall performance is choral with orchestra, and with a particular emphasis on percussion. It's primal, visceral at times, but yet very palatable.

As I said earlier, this performance is quite well-done but I would have preferred just a bit more verve. Still, the orchestra and the chorus is very tight and brisk, credit going to Michael Tilson Thomas and The Cleveland Orchestra. The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus & Boys Choir (Robert Page, Director) deserve equal credit in conveying this rather difficult piece.

While I personally prefer this performance, Carl Orff: Carmina Burana, I still like hearing this one, Thomas' "lighter" version, occasionally.

I'm on a Carmina Burana kick rightnow.Long ago, my first version of it was DeBurgos conducting the New Philharmonia Orchestra. I'd hearda cut from it on classical radioand had not heard anything from itbefore that I knew about, or anything like it. So intense...Soooo dramatic and avant-garde! I almost ran to the record store. The DeBurgos version was reccommended as the best one at that time by the expert in the Classical Annex, and fantastic it was and is, though at that timeI had nothing else to compare it to.Some years later I picked up another one. I cannot tell you whichnow. Although I went looking forit at home recently and could not find it, hence this reinvigorated interest in it.In the last few days I have pickedup versions including Stakowski'sand Charles Dutoit from Montrealon London. But...my current favehands down is MTT conducting.I haven't listened to the entirething from one end to the other..but in perusing it, I have beenenthralled! No matter how good theperformance is, if the recordingquality is not there.........The quality is here and it revealseverything wonderful about all performances. No one I've heardcan touch Judith Blegen. Her control is impeccable..matched byher crystal clarity.The orchestra is as dramatic as onecould want. The depth is felt inmy body when listening to it in mycar...the highs are as clear andpinging as fine crystal and finallya chorus whose voices are clear anddistinuishable...unlike ANY of theother versions I'm familiar with. For a thrill ride of your life that will transport you somewhere esle, buy this version QUICK!

I'm not going to do a rehash of this wonderful work. Many have already reviewed it quite well.

There is one thing, however, that everybody forgot or maybe don't realize. This particular recording is not going to provide the normal concert hall perspective that one might want. The reason this recording tends to standout from all of the rest is the fact that this was a Quadraphonic recording. A great one to be sure, but you are going to hear things that will be more evident or more clearly articulated as in other recordings. A lot of it has to do with the inner details of the score; particularly percussion and some woodwind treatment are going to sound more pronounced than on most recordings. One case in point is the tam tam in the quiet sections at the opening and closing of this work where you hear the actual stroke of the mallet against the instrument; a stroke that is almost as loud as the rest of the orchestra! It is almost as if they placed a mic right up against it. It is this kind of un-natural balance that actually makes for an exciting, intricate sounding, performance. Personally, I love that kind of detail. The problem is that you are not going to hear that kind of detail in the concert hall. If that is the kind of experience you are looking for, this is not the recording for you.

Nonetheless, this is still (and will probably always be) my favorite of all of the Carminas. But, as a classically trained musician, I know this is not the sound an orchestra will normally make in the concert hall. I have heard this work live a number of times (my favorite was Klaus Tennstedt conducting the Cincinnati Symphony during the May Festival). What it comes down to is that, sadly, I know the sound in this recording will never be re-created in the concert hall. So, this ends-up being a unique performance...and a performance to be treasured.

Recorded in 1974, Michael Tilson Thomas and the Cleveland Orchestra's Carmina Burana is still the standard of excellence. MTT's interpretation focuses rightly on rhythm and drive, yet achieves fantastic lyricism and warmth in the slower movements. The Cleveland Orchestra is on fire and the Chorus, though sometimes pushed to their limit, never falls short. While most Carmina performances feel like a disjointed pastiche of short movements, this recording has a sense of unity and flow that is still unmatched. Enjoy.

Carl Orff's Carmina Burana is undeniably an important work, and for raw emotional qualities it is difficult to find a work more compelling. While it is a work which uses unique and provocative instrumentation, I think it is faulty to say it is not primarily a choral work, and it is in this regard that this recording comes up short.

The chorus comes off as unbalanced, thin in tone, and is unable to convey the raw power that is called for so often in the work. It sounds as though there's something missing whenever the chorus reaches for the frequent fortissimas, and retains a sense of unsatisfaction when they are meant to carry the music.

Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas is successful in bringing forward many of the interesting instrumentation, and his conducting shows a clear understanding of the primal energies the work is meant to convey. This is, perhaps, the reason for the difficulties with the chorus - in an attempt to to create the primal and perhaps even 'shouty' feeling for the chorus, he may have gone too far and thus diminished their quality throughout.

The soloists, on the other hand, are the best I've heard in a recording of this work, and perhaps should've served as the model for the approach of the chorus as well.

I would recommend the Robert Shaw Carmina Burana over this.