Monday, Nov. 12, 2012
Kristjan Jarvi
Carmina Burana (Sony Classical)
Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana (1937) has become one of
the most familiar classical compositions from the modern era. The workout it
provides for choral groups may be one reason for its popularity on concert
stages, but another may be the unanticipated affinity of its savage rhythms
with rock. The percussive power is loud and center in a new recording under
conductor Kristjan Jarvi. The performance by orchestra, adult chorus and
children’s choir underscores the composition’s hard bones, which unlike most
classical music (but like most rock) undergoes no structural development.
Within its contrasts of tension and release, Carmina is simply a propulsive, anvil chorus. It rocks.



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