Recorded in 1994,
Michel Plasson's performance of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana is a respectable effort, featuring exceptional soloists, a skilled choir, and a capable orchestra, yet it falls into the category of flawed renditions. Carmina Burana is a hard piece to get wrong, since its robust choruses and theatrical vocal numbers can still be riveting even when performed by second-tier orchestras or less than brilliant singers. But when the conductor is as esteemed as
Plasson; the singers as reputable as soprano
Natalie Dessay, baritone
Thomas Hampson, and alto
Gérard Lesne; and the ensembles as good as the Choeur d'Enfants de Midi-Pyrénées and the
Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, the results should be extraordinary. Yet several opportunities for dynamic explosiveness, rousing excitement, and vivid sonorities slip by untaken, because
Plasson seems too tightly focused on directing the choir, perhaps to the detriment of the other musicians and the music as a whole, and rushes unconscionably through too many numbers. Furthermore, it sounds as if the conductor is singing under his breath in spots, slightly out of tune, in an attempt to feed the words to the choir. Perhaps most frustrating of all is the ensemble's precious staccato delivery in the opening "O Fortuna," and listeners will feel disappointed that the most famous section of this work didn't blow them away. Many of the choir's other numbers have the same kind of refined delivery, so if a declamatory, rambunctious, and somewhat vulgar Carmina Burana is needed, then one must look elsewhere. Even so, there are some beautiful sections in this performance, notably in the solos by
Hampson and
Dessay, and EMI's recording offers a few exciting orchestral sonorities. However, this recording is a disappointment for its cautiousness in too many places and for its overall inconsistency of vision.