Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, his most popular and impressive work, has celebrated worldwide success and recognition since its debut premiere in 1937 (Shortly after the greatly successful premiere, Orff wrote the following letter to his publisher, Schott Music: "Everything I have written to date, and which you have, unfortunately, printed, can be destroyed. With Carmina Burana, my collected works begin"
Carmina Burana is a monumental cantata in three parts whose title refers to the Benediktbeuren Monastery in the Bavarian Alps where manuscripts of medieval songs from all of Europe were discovered in 1803 - composer Orff employed the texts of a number of these for his composition
Estonian-born and American-raised, conductor Kristjan Järvi is a unique musical personality pushing classical music borders with fresh ideas, charisma and technical prowess
Järvi, as the visionary conductor he is, interprets Carmina Burana in his own, characteristic way and manages to introduce fresh ideas and an incomparable style to the recording
Järvi has combined his classical roots and affinity for traditional repertoire with an infectious enthusiasm for creating original programs; propelling classical concert halls around the globe into the 21st Century
Järvi is a passionate recording artist with 30 albums to his credit. He has received a list of accolades, including a Swedish Grammy for Best Opera Performance, the German Record Critics Prize for Best Album and a Grammy Nomination
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December 2012
“this performance gives [Carmina] a more interesting dimension in the sense that it finds some enchanting, soft-coloured sonorities that are sometimes neglected in favour of generalised robustness and lustiness...Right from the word go, in the 'O Fortuna' of the opening, you realise that Jarvi is taking Carmina Burana seriously from the point of view of orchestral colour, variety of impact and dramatic scope.”
8th September 2012
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“Järvi's version of Orff's masterpiece dives headfirst into the same elemental wellspring from which Stravinsky drew his Rite Of Spring, indulging the extremes of its dynamic range with gusto.”
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