Carl Orff: Carmina Burana

Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Jader Bignamini, conductor
Chen Reiss, soprano, Reginald Mobley, countertenor, Andrzej Filończyk, baritone.

Audivi, chorus, Detroit Opera Youth Chorus

PENTATONE PTC 5187519
https://www.pentatonemusic.com/

Such are the pressures of a critic's diary — albums, concerts, plays, and restaurants all queuing for attention — that I realised with something approaching guilt how long it had been since I'd properly sat with Orff's masterpiece. No broadcast, no concert listing, nothing.

It's a genuine loss, because this new PENTATONE release reminds you exactly why Carmina Burana earned its place in the repertoire in the first place. Coming to it fresh, after years away, and living with this recording for several weeks now, I've found myself newly struck by the craft beneath the spectacle.

That opening 'O Fortuna' is electrifying — dynamics are observed with real precision rather than mere brute force. Anyone of a certain age will recall its rather unlikely second life soundtracking a men's aftershave advert in the 1970s and '80s, which says something about how a single thrilling fragment can eclipse a far richer whole in the popular imagination. It's a pattern that feels uncomfortably familiar in other walks of life too – not least, dare I say, in the way British politics now rewards the soundbite over substance. Orff's wheel of fortune deserves more than fifteen seconds of fame.

Jader Bignamini conducts with exactly the judgement this score demands: knowing when to hold back and when to unleash the DSO's full weight. The lower voices entering after that famous opening are superbly balanced, drawing you straight into the work's dramatic undertow. Among the soloists, Reginald Mobley brings a countertenor timbre that's genuinely individual—a real character in the drama, not just a voice type ticked off—while Chen Reiss finds real sensitivity in 'Amor volat undique', even if she occasionally pushes toward more than the moment strictly needs. Andrzej Filończyk, meanwhile, is a real find: his baritone has a marvellous range, shown off to full effect in 'Dies nox et omnia'.

Throughout, the massed forces — Audivi, the Detroit Opera Youth Chorus, two pianos, the celesta, and that wonderfully prominent percussion section — are handled with real persuasion. The percussion in particular adds exactly the right touch of chilli to the dish: bite without overwhelming the flavour. Recorded live at Orchestra Hall in Detroit, the engineering captures both the work's glory and its tenderness, with all the immediacy you'd hope for from a concert recording rather than a studio assembly.

Bignamini himself has spoken of the experience as "unforgettable"—of a connection between the conductor, orchestra, singers, and audience that a live recording captures with particular vividness.

Having now heard the results, I don't think that's the conductor's hyperbole. This performance is shaped by a real occasion, and it shows in every bar: the wheel turns, and for once you hear the whole of it, not just the spoke that made it famous. If, like me, you haven't returned to this choral extravaganza in years, this is precisely the recording to bring you back. And if you've somehow never made its acquaintance at all, let it seduce you.

Highly recommended.