O Fortuna! ....here we go with another performance of Carmina Burana

[Cunctator]

Tonight (Friday) at 8.00pm. It’s not one of my favourites pieces, I must say. However one interesting feature of this weekend’s performances is that we’re doing the version scored for double piano and percusssion, rather than for full orchestra. At least we won’t have the usual problem of having to scream ourselves silly.

[Cunctator]

Well, it was a triumph. There’s no other word for it. One of the most energetic and focused performances the choir has ever done of Carmina. I hope tonight’s performance is the one that gets reviewed.

[Cunctator]

A pretty good review in this morning’s paper:

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
Reviewed by David Vance
21 November 2005

City Recital Hall, 18 November

To flog ale, coffee or just about anything else, the advertising industry has frequently pressed Carl Orff’s *Carmina Burana * into service, with the epic *O fortuna * chorus that bookends this scenic cantata.

Ironically, Orff’s roistering drinking chorus, In taberna, is never used to sell booze, yet where alcohol consumption is concerned, the wandering monks of 13th-century Europe were considerable authorities and celebrated their bibulous pleasures and other fleshly delights in the verses which provide Orff’s text.

Since its premiere in 1937, Carmina Burana has been a favourite with performers and audiences. Its life-affirming vitality and readily accessed expressive language assure its continuing popularity. Less well known is the version accompanied by two pianos and percussion which, if the orchestrally scored original seems like a thirst-quenching lager, is more akin to a good riesling: crisp, dry, and well-balanced.

Paring down the scoring exposes the percussive role of the pianos, expertly played by Jo Allan and Kate Golla, and highlights the rich accents of a large battery of percussion, brilliantly supplied by Synergy Percussion. Brett Weymark’s taut control yielded a precise choral performance, informed by clear diction, warmth of tone and persuasive phrasing, propelled with boundless energy.

The vocal soloists, whose comings and goings proved a tad distracting, offered various pleasures: Penelope Mills’s strong soprano proved unswerving, notably in the final rapturous farewell to a demurely-preserved maidenhead, while countertenor Tobias Cole, cast as the narcissistic roasting swan preening singed feathers, was in glorious voice (as swans are said to exhibit as death approaches).

Douglas McRae, though an amiable drunken abbot, was vocally uneven in the challenging baritone role, hampered by passages of unfocused tone and uncertain intonation.

John Peterson’s reworking of his *The Earth That Fire Touches * made a reflective and stoic prelude to the Orff. Evoking the Australian bush in blurred Phrygian scales, the music surveys a land that survives no matter what fire or flood fortune’s wheel might dispense, and provided an austere yet rewarding vision of Antipodean existence, whatever the ad men may say about our particular thirsts.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald (21 November 2005)

[Ludovic]

Was the piano audible in O Fortuna? It would seem to be a distraction from the singing and percussion, although for the rest of the piece it seems to have potential – never heard that orchestration though.

[Hometownboy]

Congratulations! I was fortunate enough to attend a similar performance (dual pianos and lots of percussion) a week ago. My daughter is in a univeristy choir which did a credible performance. a week ago Sunday. Very nice, indeed.

[Cunctator]

@Ludovic

Was the piano audible in O Fortuna?

We could hear the pianos during the “whispery” bits. Not so much at the end.

@Ludovic

It would seem to be a distraction from the singing and percussion, although for the rest of the piece it seems to have potential – never heard that orchestration though.

I’d recommend trying to get a recording or hear a live performance with the double piano/percussion orchestration. I think it significantly improves the piece.

[Mama_Tiger]

It would be nice not to have to scream to be heard in O Fortuna. I’ll have to listen to a recording with the double pianos and percussion – it’s a fun piece to sing, and that would make it even more fun.

[thwartme]

@Mama Tiger

It would be nice not to have to scream to be heard in O Fortuna. I’ll have to listen to a recording with the double pianos and percussion – it’s a fun piece to sing, and that would make it even more fun.

Did it sound like this?

[MaxTheVool]

All I have to say is…

quinquies pro fidelibus defunctis!

[Sampiro]

[Hijack]The worst version I’ve heard (and own) of this is by Ray Manczarek, keyboardist for The Doors. He incorporates techno and disco into Orff. Yuk.[/Hijack]

[Shalmanese]

Damn, a pity I’m out of the country right now. I would have loved to attend something like that.