Music Reviews

A Wonderful Performance of Carl Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana’

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Gabor Hollerung conducts the Budafok Dohnanyi Orchestra, The Budapest Academic Choral Society, and 4 marvelous soloists in the Carmina Burana cantata, composed in 1935 and 1936 by Carl Orff, and based on 24 poems from the medieval collection Carmina Burana. It’s sung in Latin, as well and Middle High German. Even if you are not familiar with the work, you’ve heard the first “song” a gazillion times.

This is not music from the middle ages, but it’s music that portrays the middle ages perfectly. I’ve heard many recordings which are simply too polite. The Carmina Burana needs to be tuneful, rowdy, and bursting with life! Here’s a painting by Pieter Bruegel from 1566 (The Wedding Dance) which I think is an excellent visualization of what this music is all about.


I’ve got recordings of the Carmina Burana by Eugen Jochum and Eugene Ormandy that I wouldn’t want to be without, but this superbly recorded performance on Hunnia is a sparkling good time! Don’t miss it!

Written by

Bill Dodd

Bill is Senior Music Reviewer at NativeDSD. He lives in the Portland, Oregon area. He is an avid photographer too! Along with his early interest in broadcasting and high fidelity audio, he was exposed to classical music in small doses from age 5, was given piano lessons from age 9— Starting with Bach and including Gershwin. Successful morning personality in San Francisco at age 22. (true). Sang in choirs in high school and college. Although the broadcasting experience was all in popular music, his personal listening has been mostly classical his whole life—along with others including Benny Goodman, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Joni Mitchell, The Who, and Led Zeppelin.

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