Part 1. Die Sibyllen
1) "Heis - Heis - theos estin" [7:09]
2) "Opse theu g'aleusi myloi" [3:18]
3) "Pasin, pasin homu" [8:49]
4) "Cho - neuso gar hapanta kai" [3:01]
5) "Vae, vae ibunt, ibunt" [0:53]

Part 2. Die Anachoreten
6) "Upote, maepote..." [3:25]
7) "Unus solus deus ab aeterno" [2:32]
8) "Nicht Satanas, der Widersacher" [1:00]
9) "Mundus, terrenus" [4:12]
10) "Wann endet die Zeit?" [1:15]
11) "Gott, schenk uns Wahrsagung" [3:55]

Part 3. Dies Illa
12) "Wi irren wir hin, verloren, verlassen" [6:39]
13) "Kyrie, Kyrie, Kyrie" [1:18]
14) "Angor, timor, horror, terror" [2:58]
15) "Omne genus daemoniorum" [1:35]
16) "Vae, vae, portae inferi" [0:53]
17) "Pater peccavi" [4:33]
18) "Con sublima spiritualità" [4:51]

Kölner Rundfunkchor
RIAS Kammerchor
Peter Schreier
Christa Ludwig
Rolf Boysen
Der Tölzer Knabenchor
Kölner Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester
Herbert von Karajan

Orff uses the word Comoedia here in its classical meaning of a stage work that does not end tragically or catastrophically. This work, completed in 1971 and revised somewhat after the Salzburg Festival performance of 1973, is Orff's last major work; although he lived for about another decade, he considered it a proper culmination to his life work.

The ensemble ranges from the expected Orff piano and percussion "magic" sonorities to that of an almost full symphony orchestra (violins and, I think, violas, are omitted from the orchestra proper, although a quartet of violas is used in the instrumental conclusion of the work). At times, unusually among the Orff works discussed here, the chorus is accompanied by a driving rhythmically complex texture of only low drums. While Orff's music in general is almost pristine in its diatonicism, here, as apocalypse approaches, more and more chromatic notes are added to the chordal texture. This is not done to create atonality per se, or to use enriched harmonies in any traditionally functional way (that is, to accomplish or anticipate key modulations) but only to make the sonorities more all-embracing, more cosmic, as it were. As a result, at the end of the work in particular, the sound and rhythms of the work become denser and more crushing in effect. Thus, there is an unusual sense of musical drama.

The culmination of the comoedia is the appearance of Satan; after the dissolution of the rest of God's handiwork, Satan at last emerges and confesses that he has sinned and begs forgiveness. His demonic aspect disappears, and it is revealed that God has forgiven even Satan, and restored him to his former full glory as the Angel Lucifer, rebellious no more. At this point, chromaticism disappears from the score, leaving the quartet of violas to play the Bach chorale "Before Thy Throne, " in a varied form.

The result is a fascinating work, much deeper and more disturbing that the famous "Carmina Burana." ---Joseph Stevenson, Rovi

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01. Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi - 1. O Fortuna
02. Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi - 2. Fortune Plango Vulnera
03. I. Primo Vere - 3. Veris Leta Facies
04. I. Primo Vere - 4. Omnia Sol Temperat
05. I. Primo Vere - 5. Ecce Gratum
06. Uf Em Anger - 6. Tanz
07. Uf Em Anger - 7. Floret Silva
08. Uf Em Anger - 8. Chramer, Gip Die Varwe Mir
09. Uf Em Anger - 9. Reie
10. Uf Em Anger - Swaz Hie Gat Umbe
11. Uf Em Anger - Chume, Chum Geselle Min
12. Uf Em Anger -Swaz Hie Gat Umbe
13. Uf Em Anger -10. Were Diu Werit Alle Min
14. II. In Taberna - 11. Estuans Interius
15. II. In Taberna - 12. Olim Lacus Colueram
16. II. In Taberna - 12. Ego Sum Abbas
17. II. In Taberna - 14. In Taberna Quando Sumus
18. III. Cours D'amour - 15. Amor Volat Undique
19. III. Cours D'amour - 16. Dies, Nox Et Omnia
20. III. Cours D'amour - 17. Stetit Puella
21. III. Cours D'amour - 18. Circa Mea Pectora
22. III. Cours D'amour - 19. Si Puer Cum Puellula
23. III. Cours D'amour - 20. Veni, Veni, Venias
24. III. Cours D'amour - 21. In Trutina
25. III. Cours D'amour - 22. Tempus Est Iocundum
26. III. Cours D'amour - 23. Dulcissime
27. Blanziflor Et Helena - 24. Ave Formosissima
28. Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi - 25. O Fortuna

Natalie Dessay - soprano
Thomas Hampson - baritone
Gérard Lesne - alto
Malcolm Stewart - violin

Choeur d'enfants de Midi-Pyrénées
Orféon Donostiarra
Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse
Michel Plasson - conductor

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. ---Blair Sanderson, Rovi

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1. Verzeiten gab es ein Land (Erzähler)		2:58	
2. Was ist das für ein Licht? (Burschen/Bauer)		3:59	
3. Tanz der Bauern in der Schenke (Orchestra)		1:58
4. Und wann ich hamwärts geh (Schultheiß/Bauernchor)		1:29
5. Der Mond ist fort (Chor/Kinderchor)		2:06
6. Wirt, Leute kommen! (Bauer/Wirt/Chor/Burschen)		1:20	
7. Wenn ihr nachts aus der Taberne (Burschen/Chor/Wirt)		3:15	
8. So hängt ihn auf (Wirt)		1:06	
9. Seht den Mond (Chor/Burschen)	0:44	
10. Und sie brachten den Geraubten glücklich in ihr Land (Erzähler)		1:05	
11. Phantastische Nacht (Orchestra)		3:54
12. Die Vier versorgten den Mond mit Öl (Erzähler)	1:11	
13. Lieg' ich hier an dieser Schwelle (Erster Bursche/Chor/Wirt)		3:27	
14. Alle, die wir ringsum stehn (Chor)		1:48
15. Und als der "Erste" gestorben war (Erzähler)	3:21
16. Und als der Mond dort leuchtete (Erzähler/Chor/Burschen)		5:07
17. Du spielst, als lägst du noch im Grab (Kartenspieler/Würfler/Kegler/Säufer)	2:03
18. Florat silva undique (Chor/Mädel/Burschen)		2:55	
19. Was ist da los? (Petrus/Chor/Burschen)		8:13	
20. Tanz der Toten (Orchestra)		0:50	
21. Der Wein ist gut (Petrus/Chor/Burschen)		1:22
22. Wie kalt ist's draußen in der Welt (Petrus)		0:53
23. Magischer Zauber (Orchestra)	1:17	
24. Sitz ich da am hohen Himmel (Petrus/Chor der Toten)	9:10	
25. So brachte Petrus die Toten zur Ruh (Erzähler)	1:48
26. Ach, da hängt ja der Mond! (Kleines Kind/Chor)		3:40

Rudolf Christ - Der Erzahler
Karl Schmitt,Helmut Graml,Paul Kuen,Peter Lagger - Vier Burschen
Albrecht Peter - Ein Bauer
Hans Hotter - Petrus
Philharmonia Chorus & Children's Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Wolfgang Sawallisch - conductor

At about the same time that he premiered his most famous composition, Carmina Burana, Carl Orff was writing Der Mond, a one-act opera based on a traditional tale collected by the Grimm Brothers. The first scene is virtually a word-for-word setting of the opening of the Grimms' tale, including sung narration. It takes place in a time when the Moon was unknown; anyone who went out at night without their own lantern would have to feel their way around or run into things. Just after nightfall, four fellows from one town have traveled to a neighboring town. They see a strange light shining from the branches of a large oak tree. Like almost everyone else in the story, upon spying it they ask "What is that light, " and are told that it is "The Moon." Many years ago the man who is now the village mayor brought it home with him, having purchased it elsewhere. Now, he has put it in the tree, and regularly tops it off with oil for a nice weekly stipend. The four travelers steal The Moon and take it home. The villagers discover that their town is now in darkness, and berate the mayor for letting it go out. But when he is hoisted up into the branches, he discovers to everyone's horror that it has been stolen At home the travelers show off their Moon, sing a song describing its virtues, and make a good life-time deal for themselves. Time passes to mysterious music. As each of the travelers ages and dies in his turn, his will demands that his quarter of the moon be cut off from the light and taken with him. After the fourth traveler expires, the town is again in nightly darkness.

Not so in the vast underground crypts of the Dead. Once all four quarters of the moon are reunited, its light wakes the dead. Once they understand their situation, they delightedly turn to whatever gave them pleasure in life: drinking, gambling, bowling, etc. The noise of their revelry is even heard in Heaven where St. Peter at first fears another revolt by the forces of the underground. He stills the awakened souls by throwing a comet at them, then investigates the disorder. Upon discovering the situation, he gently bids them back to their slumbers and takes the Moon, hanging it in the heavens for the good of all the living. At the end, a little child is seen looking upward. "Oh, look, the Moon is shining, " he says, the only character in the play who understands it at first sight.

Orff's music is quite similar to that of Carmina Burana. There is the same emphasis on serving the words with clear, direct melodies, simple harmonies, bright orchestration, and strong yet simple rhythms. The interlude that depicts the passage of time and the deaths of the four travelers makes a different impression. Orff's music here is extraordinary, sounding like some of the mysterious nocturnal music from Mahler's Seventh Symphony: A pulsing low string figure suggests the turning of the vast clockwork of the cosmos; with it is a dark tuba solo and snarling muted brass chords. This extraordinary passage is unique in notation as well: it bears the unique key-signature of C-Flat Major, seven flats. Interestingly, it takes on a dark and mysterious quality in that key, rather than the bright sound commonly associated with B Major, which would be the usual spelling of this key. This attractive music should appeal to anyone who loves Carmina Burana for anything other than its erotic qualities. --- Joseph Stevenson, Rovi

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Disc: 1
  1. Scene 1. To the earth's remotest
  2. Scene 2. Oh thou bring sky of heaven
  3. Scene 3. Ha! Hold!
  4. Scene 4. I am come to the goal of a long journey
  5. Scene 5. I mourn over thee, Prometheus

Disc: 2
  1. Scene 6. What land is this? What people?
  2. Scene 7. Ah, sage, sage in sooth
  3. Scene 8. But stay, for yonder I behold this lackey
  4. Scene 9. Lo, no it hath passed from word to deed

Josef Greindl - Power (Kratos)
Heinz Cramer – Hephaestus
Roland Hermann – Prometheus
Kieth Engen – Oceanus
Choir of the Oceanides – Edda Moser, Sophia van Sante, Raili Kostia
Io – Colette Lorand
Hermes – Frit Uhl
Women’s Chorus of West German Radio
Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra
Ferdinand Leitner - conductor
Recorded Cologne, 1972

Carl Orff's Prometheus completes his trilogy of Greek tragedies, the two earlier works being Oedipus the Tyrant and Antigone. This is the only one actually set in the original Greek (the other two use German translations), and it's good to have this impressive 1972 studio performance back in the catalog, as there isn't likely to be another--nor, frankly, do we need one. The work contains just as much dialog as music, and the latter is stripped to the bone: simple rhythms with lots of metallic percussion, mostly in short bursts. Even the singing, usually some form of syllabic chant, is very minimally accompanied. There's also plenty of action for wind and thunder machines, recreating what Orff took to be the story's primal ambiance. The cast is excellent, led by Roland Hermann's tormented Prometheus. Josef Greindl as Kratos (Power) spits out the words with terrifying force, and as Io, Colette Lorand's shrieks will have your neighbors calling the police.

In short, this really is a piece for confirmed Orffnicks, but that doesn't lessen the impressiveness of Ferdinand Leitner's achievement in committing it to disc. The 1972 sonics have come up well in this transfer, save for a touch of distortion at the loudest climaxes. Arts Music provides an English-only version of the libretto in the accompanying booklet, which is useful since most people can't read Greek--and the only serious competition, Kubelik's equally fine 1975 live set on Orfeo with largely the same cast, isn't so generous. ---David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Prometheus is by a long measure the most recent of Orff’s works in this set and it’s equally clearly the most challenging. It sets a text, in Greek, derived from Aeschylus’s Prometheus and followed directly from Orff’s settings of Antigone and Sophocles’ Oedipus. In Prometheus however his means had become increasingly stark, with declamation, not singing, being the means of communicating the text and the supporting instrumentation being largely percussive but augmented by woodwind, ceremonial brass, harps, double-basses and pianos.

Orff’s musical focus is here rhythmic, with expressive outbursts emerging from declaimed text with abrasive force. The solo narrative, augmented by choral stretches, is indeed sometimes unaccompanied, or else garnished - if that’s the right word - by a battery of percussive interjectory colour. Those who have heard reconstructions of music for the Greek theatre will perhaps recognise in Orff’s setting a kind of heightened, almost phantasmagoric extrapolation of the stasis and paragraphal percussive points that animated their theatre.

All this is remarkable but pretty heavy weather. There are certainly unceasing moments of textual illumination, though you’ll have a hard job following the text as it’s solely in English and there are only a few edit points to guide one. One such is the early and visceral moment when Prometheus is "smitten with hammer" as he’s chained to the rock, a moment accompanied with the requisite amount of hammering. The macabre laugh of Power is well characterised – all the singers cope magnificently with their essentially spoken or declaimed parts – and the weird occasional melismas, falsetto ascents (disc 1, track 4 – Scene IV) and snarls that stud the text act as dramatic high points.

Roland Hermann deserves all praise for his fantastic control in the central role and in Scene VI we meet in concentrated form the powerfully stratospheric Colette Lorand. There’s luxury casting down the list and a conductor only too well versed in Orff lore. This two-disc set is a very tough nut; it’s a product of textual analysis of the most austere kind and all musical devices are subservient to textual meaning. There are no lush orchestral string choirs – forget the ebullience and freedoms of the pre-War Orff. Much of it, to unsympathetic auditors, will seem penitentially awful. But it remains an important work in Orff’s oeuvre and a necessary component of this vibrant and still recommendable boxed set. ---Jonathan Woolfm, .musicweb-international.com

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