This disc does not deserve to be included in the “Philips 50”–supposedly a selection of some of the finest recordings to have appeared on the label during the past 50 years. Not only isn’t it an especially good performance of Carmina Burana, it doesn’t hold a candle to Ozawa’s own first version with the Boston Symphony on RCA, even sonically. Where previously the famous opening number had the right sense of inexorability and a palpable air of menace (with a much fresher sounding and word-wise chorus), now it flashes by as though the singers had to rush to catch the next flight back to Japan. The Berlin Philharmonic brass and percussion have none of the impact and sheer, healthy vulgarity that give an irresistible swagger to numbers like In Taberna, while the quieter sections sound lost in the dead acoustic of Berlin’s notoriously unflattering Philharmonie (if memory serves; the booklet omits detailed recording information). Fine vocal soloists don’t compensate for what the conductor, chorus, and orchestra otherwise lack. Stick with Ozawa’s first recording, or Jochum’s on DG.
