Orff: Carmina Burana

Carl Orff (Artist), Donald Runnicles (Artist), Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus (Artist), Hei-Kyung Hong (Artist), Stanford Olsen (Artist), Earle Patriarco (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 22, 2002)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Telarc
• ASIN: B00005V0WU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #278,929 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Carl Orff's Stravinskian rabble-rouser retains its appeal. The pagan high-jinks, driving rhythms, and dips into semi-hysteria can be irresistible given the right performance. And, of course, with its dynamic range, from delicately colored quiet passages to heaven-storming climaxes, it's tailor-made for showing off hi-fi systems. Telarc is known for its outstanding sound, and this one's well up to the house standards. The performance is a very good one, coming in just under the top choices, of which the venerable Jochum version on DG remains unsinged as number one. But the combination of the recording quality and the superb Atlanta Symphony Chorus won't fail to please. The orchestra is similarly outstanding, with piercing trumpets and terrific playing throughout. Hong's lovely soprano contributions make her the best of the soloists. Olson and Patriarco let the team down slightly in the popular "In the Tavern" section, the former uneasy in his high-flying part as the roasting swan, the latter rough-sounding at times. Runnicles conducts a powerful performance. After a start that underplays the opening movements, he compensates the rest of the way, making more of the quiet sections (a good part of the work) than most. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Debut, February 28, 2002

By A Customer

This is a good debut for the Atlanta Symphony's new Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles. I like his interpretation of the piece. It is energetic and expressive. The soloists are generally good. The tenor does struggle on his extremly difficult part. The others are good. The Atlanta Symphony Chorus is spectacular as always...Mr. Mackenzie has done a wonderful job where Mr. Shaw tragically left off. The Robert Shaw version of this piece, incidentally, may have an edge over this one. This is definatly worth a listen though. The talented Runnicles does shine here and has made himself a name in Atlanta...San Fran. being his first home. Worth a listen!!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good, but far from stellar, June 12, 2003

By	MildCritter "the critter" (Rome, GA United States) - See all my reviews

I have long been a fan of Carmina Burana and of the ASO. I bought this CD specifically to get an idea of the influence of new blood on the ASO, as I am no fan of Joel Levi (the previous principal conductor) and had heard many good things about Donald Runnicles. I was terribly disappointed to find that the performance is good, but far from great. I was most surprised to find that the worst of the deficiencies were in the chorus, long among the strongest in the nation. The orchestral preparation was excellent, but unnecessarily restrained. The soloists were quite good, but not spectacular. The chorus was often muddy and indistinct. On the Shaw ASO recording, the chorus was crisp and nearly perfect, but this CD suffers from technical problems in the recording of the chorus. The singers are often too low in the mix, and there is not enough clarity and punch in the all-important speech definition range (2-6kHz) to let their consonants come through clearly.

This is not a bad recording, but it simply does not live up to the potential of either the chorus, the orchestra, or the piece. It is simply too restrained on the part of the orchestra and too unclear on the part of the chorus. The first is a matter of the conductor's interpretation, but the second is a problem in engineering and mixing.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better live, but still an invigorating recording, December 7, 2005

By	K. Bernhard (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had the privilege of being a member of the children's chorus that sings on several of the tracks. Now, several years later with experience with numerous other professional choral groups under my belt, I still look back on this recording as the best choral excperience of my life.

The soloists have been described as weak in places, which I find a true assessment. However, the soloists that are on the recording were added at the last moment, after scathing reviews of the concert soloists. While this is certainly not an excuse for the somewhat lackluster performance, it is then easy to understand the soloists' degree of uncomfortability with the chorus and orchestra.

Although the technical recording difficulties are evident, this recording still shines above it in my mind. The power of the chorus transcends any of the other problems with the soloists or recording devices. The sonority and tone of the chorus and recording as a whole is well worth the price of the cd. Compared to other recordings of Carmina, this one has such a high feeling of energy that cannot help but touch the listener. Overall, a very good recording. Well worth the price.