Orff based his performing
realisation of L’Orfeo on the 1607 production.
It was first staged in Mannheim in 1923
and was an experiment at revivifying
baroque opera through the medium of
modern orchestral perspective. It was
a process to which he was return several
times, lastly in 1940 (in the performing
edition heard on this disc) when compression
and operatic intensity were at the forefront.
Orff employed two basset horns, two
harps and three double strung lutes
and the sonorities generated are rich
and freely expressive.
That said, given the
nature of the realisation, this is really
a curio that will be of most interest
to devotees of the development of Orff’s
vocal and theatrical powers. Another
inducement for them is that Orff takes
the part of speaker. It’s sung in German
and the modern instruments are rich
and warm; the overlapping strings and
antique colour are evocative and sensuous
and the romanticised perspective gives
weight to the drama.
The cast is obviously
top notch. Prey is ardent though there
are times when he sounds strenuous (in
the middle of the First Act in particular).
Orff is especially keen to promote the
winds; by means of underpinning orchestral
pizzicati and wind interjections he
cultivates a sprung rhythm that suits
his purpose; sample Act II’s Weh,
dunkles Schicksal! [Track 9] where
Elysian winds coalesce with muted strings
producing a painterly veil, albeit one
rudely interrupted by brass rasps. Popp
has less to do though she rises to the
Act III duet with touching simplicity.
Wagemann and Ridderbusch are both commanding.
Kurt Eichhorn directs his forces were
assurance and the sound has come up
vividly. The libretto is in German only
– but familiarity with the original
will ease that (relatively light) burden.
Jonathan Woolf
Carl
ORFF (1895-1982) Carmina
Burana (1935-36) 
Ruth-Margaret Pütz (soprano) Michael
Cousins (tenor) Barry McDaniel (baritone)
Roland Hermann (bass) Cologne Radio
Choir Tölzer Childrens Choir Cologne
Radio Symphony Orchestra/Ferdinand Leitner
Recorded by West German Radio, Cologne,
1973
ARTS 43001-2
[60.29][JW]
One
can see why this ceded ground to the
Jochum but it does have attractions
of its own ... see Full
Review
Carl
ORFF
(1895-1982) Catulli
Carmina (1943) Donald Grobe
(tenor) – Catallus Ruth-Margaret Pütz
(soprano) - Lesbia Trionfo di
Afrodite (1950-51) Enriqueta
Tarrés (soprano) – Sposa Donald
Grobe (tenor) – Sposo Hans Günter
Nöcker (bass) – Corifeo Brigitte
Dürrler (soprano) – Corifea Horst
R Laubenthal (tenor) – Corifeo
Cologne Radio Choir Cologne Radio Symphony
Orchestra/Ferdinand Leitner Recorded
Cologne, 1974
ARTS ARCHIVES 43002-2 [75.00] [JW]
Tremendously
involved and involving. The restoration
sounds first class. ... see Full
Review
Carl
ORFF
(1895-1982) Orpheus
– free adaptation of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo
(1923) Carl Orff (speaker) Hermann Prey
(bass baritone) – Orpheus Lucia Popp
(soprano) – Eurydice Rose Wagemann (mezzo
soprano) – Die Botin Karl Ridderbusch
(bass) – Der Wächter der Toten
Choir of Bavarian Radio Munich Radio
Orchestra/Kurt Eichhorn Recorded Munich,
1972
ARTS ARCHIVES 43003-2 [66.07] [JW]
A
curio that will be of most interest
to devotees of the development of Orff’s
vocal and theatrical powers. ... see
Full Review
