- Audio CD (Aug 2 2005)
- SPARS Code: DDD
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Telarc
- ASIN: B000003CSM
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #86,352 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product Details |
Track Listings
| 1. Introduction |
| 2. Part I |
| 3. Part II |
| 4. Part III |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
As much as critics--and many musicians--love to hate this work, Carmina Burana is a uniquely entertaining and justly popular theatrical masterpiece. This collection of 13th-century secular poems, originally found in a Bavarian monastery, were selected, set to original music, and arranged for a large modern orchestra, vocal soloists, and choirs by German composer Carl Orff. Orff ingeniously used these large forces to create a work of astonishing and powerful simplicity. The simplest melodies, primal rhythms, and rudimentary orchestration combine for an unforgettably dynamic musical and dramatic experience. This is one of the first digital recordings of the work, and one of the more successful in balancing the large numbers of singers and instrumentalists. Judith Blegen's lovely rendition of "In trutina" is worth many hearings, and the energy and excitement generated in the sections for full choir and orchestra are something you just have to experience. --David Vernier
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Perfectly wrong...,
By Scott Perkins (Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Carmina Burana (Audio CD)
Robert Shaw is widely regarded as the foremost choral conductor of his generation, and perhaps even of all time. Shaw's choruses had a unique sound because of his obsession with diction, purity, and blend, creating some of the most graceful and technically pristine renditions of many of the great choral masterworks.Orff's writing, on the other hand, is for the most part anything but graceful. Carmina Burana is one of his tamer works by far, but there is still plenty of evidence associating it with the rough, barbaric texture of his other works, which often include shouting from the chorus and explosions of sound from his beloved percussion (i.e. 'De temporum fine comoedia'). The Nazi party in particular, who especially enjoyed Carmina Burana, championed the crude, primitive, and powerfully motivational excitement of his music. I find that in this recording, Shaw stays true to his form, creating beautiful, graceful sounds from his chorus, which in the case of this composition is entirely inappropriate. The carnal power that drives movements such as 'Were diu welt alle min' and 'In taberna quando sumus' is simply absent. The result evokes imagery closer to a couple sipping wine in an expensive Italian restaurant rather than a bunch of drunken men in a tavern, one yelling about how he is the abbott of Cuckoominster. Among the soloists, soprano Judith Blegen and baritone Hakan Hagegard give fine performances. Tenor William Brown on the other hand, given the task of illustrating the pain felt by a duck as he is being roasted in an aria with an absurdly high tessitura (Olim lacus colueram), switches to falsetto on the highest pitches and seems to abandon his sense of intonation. The result is certainly painful, but not necessarily in the way it was intended. Finally, one should note that this recording divides the work, consisting of 25 separate movements, into only four tracks, which is simply annoying. A far better recording of Carmina Burana, in my opinion, which much better captures the excitement inherent in the writing, is Slatkin's performance with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Hagegard is also the baritone in this recording; Sylvia McNair delivers an even more innocent and pure performance (appropriate, in this case, since she represents a young virgin) than Blegen; and John Aler gives the most passable rendition of the tenor aria I've heard, never once switching to falsetto, even on the high C'd and D's.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best version ever heard! A melhor versão já ouvida!,
By Luís Fernando Valença Barroso (Cachambi, Rio de Janeiro Brasil) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Carmina Burana (Audio CD)
When I heard the introduction of "O Fortuna" on the vinyl version of Sepultura's Morbid Visions album, dated 1986, I thought: Where to find this record, which orchestra and regent played this opus called Carmina Burana? There are several versions. I have one by Seiji Osawa, other by James Levini (in vinyl, with lyrics) and this by Robert Shaw that I consider the best!!!Through this site I could find it, just hearing the tracks! I must say: This version of Carmina Burana is the heaviest (due the tambour like a Thunder) and awesome of all time I have heard!!! It's simple and wonderful!!! This version have 4 long tracks. On a CD Player which displays the index, you can see the subtitles.I ordered it in a classical music store. I recommend it!!!...
2.0 out of 5 stars
Just Awful!,
By Dan Laramy "Yoda" (Orr's Island, Maine) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Carmina Burana (Audio CD)
This version of the Carl Orff masterpiece cruises along acceptably until the tenor solo. I had to take the CD out of the player to see if there was something wrong with it. It's just painful to listen to. Instead of this version, I would suggest either the Leonard Slatkin/St. Louis Symphony or the more recent version with Christian Thielemann/Duetsche Oper Berlin. Both treat the piece with the wild abandon and exitement it deserves and, more importantly all the soloists give fine performances in both versions.
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