Search - Burana, Ensemble Organum, Peres :: Great Passion Play

Great Performance of Medieval Passion Play

B. Marold | Bethlehem, PA United States | 01/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 'Carmina Burana' performed by the Ensemble Organum, directed by marcel Peres is NOT a performance of the Carl Orff 1930s composition of which I found about 50 recordings before I stopped counting.



This is a 13th century Passion Play covering the last days of Christ with many solo and choral parts, astonishingly in both Latin and in 'Middle German'. I almost fell off my chair when the first German solo popped up. That alone makes the work far more interesting than the average Latin aid to meditation.



At 147 minutes across two discs, this is a really great work for early music fans, and I hope that all those who buy it in error, thinking it is another version of Orff's work will be pleasantly surprised!"