Orff: Carmina Burana.(Sound Recording Review)

Orff: Carmina Burana. Sally Matthews, soprano; Lawrence Brownlee, tenor; Christian Gerhaher, baritone; Simon Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Berlin Radio Chorus. EMI 7243-557888-2.

Since moving to the conductorship of the Berlin Philharmonic, Sir Simon Rattle has been advocating live recording with a vengeance. I admit this often produces more lively and spontaneous results, having a real audience during the performance, but it doesn't always do a lot for a recording's sonics. Such is the case with his recording of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, that perennial favorite of music lovers the world over, as well as movie directors and television-commercial producers.

First, the performance. The soloists, chorus, and orchestra seem letter perfect, as we might expect from these people, and Rattle's interpretation is vigorous. The reading is, however, perhaps a touch too slick for its own good, lacking some of the earthiness the work deserves by its being slowed down a tad rather than taken with such extreme tempo changes. Rattle's slowly and softly articulating one section of the music and then blasting it out fast and loud in the next can be ...