Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Orff's Carmina Burana in Building a Library with Jeremy Summerly and Andrew McGregor

Building a Library features Orff's Carmina Burana. Plus the best new releases, including operas by Puccini and Strauss,

With Andrew McGregor

Building a Library features Orff's Carmina Burana; plus the best new releases - including operas by Puccini and Strauss.

9.30am
Building a Library
Jeremy Summerly talks to Andrew about the best recordings of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana
Carl Orff composed his cantata in 1936, based on 24 poems from the medieval collection Carmina Burana. The poems cover a wide range of subjects, which are just as topical today as they were in the 13th century: the fickleness of fortune and wealth, the ephemeral nature of life, the joy of the return of spring, and the pleasures and perils of drinking, gluttony, gambling, and lust. Orff said to his publisher "Everything I have written to date, and which you have, unfortunately, printed, can be destroyed. With Carmina Burana, my collected works begin." It became the most famous piece of music composed in Germany at the time.

10.30am
Ash Khandekar joins Andrew with new releases of operas by Puccini, Strauss and Weber.

11.15am
Record of the Week
Andrew's pick of the best disc from the last seven days

2 hours, 47 minutes

Music Played

  • Antonín Dvořák

    Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90 (B166) 'Dumky' - 1st movement

    Performer: Nicolas Altstaedt. Performer: Alexander Lonquich. Performer: Barnabás Kelemen.
    • Kodály: Duo for Violin and Violoncello, Op. 7 - Dvořák: Piano Trio, Op. 90 'Dumk.
    • Alpha.
    • 4.
  • Jean‐Baptiste Lully

    Ballet royal de la Naissance de Venus: Ritournelle & Trois Graces

    Director: Christophe Rousset. Ensemble: Les Talens Lyriques. Singer: Déborah Cachet. Singer: Benedicte Tauran. Singer: Ambroisine Bré.
    • Lully: Ballet Royal de La Naissance de Venus.
    • Aparte.
    • 22.
  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 35: I. Allegro Moderato

    Performer: Simon Trpceski. Performer: Andrei Kavalinski. Conductor: Cristian Măcelaru. Ensemble: Janáčkova filharmonie Ostrava.
    • Shostakovich: Piano Concertos & Piano Trio No. 2.
    • Linn.
    • 1.
  • Ramón Humet

    Light: No. 4, Naked Stone

    Choir: Latvian Radio Choir. Conductor: Sigvards Kļava.
    • Ramon Humet: Light.
    • Ondine.
    • 4.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Sonata for Piano Duet in F major K497: III. Allegro

    Performer: Kirill Gerstein. Performer: Ferenc Rados.
    • Mozart: Sonatas for Piano Four Hands KV521 & 497.
    • Myrios.
    • 6.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major, Op. V Cavatina

    Ensemble: Ehnes Quartet.
    • Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13, Op. 130 & Grosse Fuge, Op. 133.
    • Onyx.
    • 5.
  • Giovanni Gabrieli

    Canzon seconda & Angelus ad pastores a

    Ensemble: La Guilde des Mercenaires. Director: Adrien Mabire.
    • Gabrieli: Gloria a Venezia!.
    • Château de Versailles Spectacles.
    • 15.
  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Symphony No. 6 in E flat minor, Op. 111: III. Vivace

    Ensemble: Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vasily Petrenko.
    • Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6 & Myaskovsky: Symphony No. 27.
    • LAWO.
    • 3.
  • Gustav Mahler

    Symphony No. 7: II. Nachtmusik

    Ensemble: Bavarian State Orchestra. Ensemble: Kirill Petrenko.
    • Mahler: Symphony No. 7.
    • BSO Recordings.
    • 2.

DISCS PLAYED & REVIEWED ON RECORD REVIEW:


Saturday 12th June 2021


9.00am

Kodály: Duo for Violin and Violoncello, Op. 7 - Dvořák: Piano Trio, Op. 90 'Dumky'

Barnabás Kelemen (violin)

Nicolas Altstaedt (cello)

Alexander Lonquich (piano)

Alpha ALPA737

Lully: Ballet Royal de La Naissance de Venus

Deborah Cachet & Bénédicte Tauran (soprano)

Ambroisine Bré (mezzo soprano)

Cyril Auvity (tenor)

Guillaume Andrieux & Philippe Estèphe (baritone)

Les Talens Lyriques

Christophe Rousset (director)

Aparté AP255

Shostakovich: Piano Concertos & Piano Trio No. 2

Simon Trpčeski (piano)

Andrei Kavalinski (trumpet)

Aleksandar Krapovski (violin)

Alexander Somov (cello)

Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava

Cristian Măcelaru (conductor)

Linn CKD659

Ramon Humet: Light (Llum)

Latvian Radio Choir

Sigvards Klava (conductor)

Ondine ODE1389-2

Label: Ondine

Mozart: Sonatas for Piano Four Hands KV521 & 497

Ferenc Rados & Kirill Gerstein (piano)

Myrios MYR029

9.30am – Building a Library – Jeremy Summerly on Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana

Recommended Recording:

Riccardo Muti (conductor)

Arleen Auger (soprano)

John van Kesteren (tenor)
Jonathan Summers (baritone)

Philharmonia Orchestra & Choir

Warner Classics 5864272

Historical recommendations:

Wolfgang Sawallisch (conductor)
Agnes Giebel (soprano)
Paul Kuen (tenor)

Marcel Cordes (baritone)
Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester

Chor des Westdeutschen Rundfunks

Warner Classics 7777642375

10.15am – New Releases

Vivaldi: Concerti Per Violino IX Le Nuove Vie

Boris Begelman (violin)

Concerto Italiano

Rinaldo Alessandrini (director)

Naïve OP7258

Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13, Op. 130 & Grosse Fuge, Op. 133

Ehnes Quartet

Onyx ONYX4199

Gabrieli: Gloria a Venezia!

La Guilde des Mercenaires

Adrien Mabire (cornet/conductor)

Château de Versailles Spectacles CVS041

Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6 & Myaskovsky: Symphony No. 27

Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra

Vasily Petrenko

LAWO LWC1215

10.40am – Ashutosh Khandekar’s Operas

The Freischütz Project

Johanni Van Oostrum (Agathe/soprano)

Chiara Skerath (Ännchen/soprano)

Stanislas de Barbeyrac (Max/tenor)
Christian Immler (Eremit/baritone)
Vladimir Baykov (Kaspar/bass-baritone)

Insula orchestra

Accentus Choir

Laurence Equilbey (conductor)

Erato 9029510954 (CD + DVD)

Puccini: La Fanciulla del West

Melody Moore (Minnie/soprano)

Lester Lynch (Jack Rance/baritone)

Marius Vlad (Dick Johnson/tenor)

Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir of Cluj-Napoca

Lawrence Foster (conductor)

La Fanciulla PTC5186778 (2 Hybrid SACDs)

Strauss: Ariadne Auf Naxos

Soile Isokoski (Ariadne soprano)

Daniela Fally (Zerbinetta/soprano)

Sophie Koch (Komponist/mezzo-soprano)

Johan Botha (Bacchus/tenor)
Wiener Staatsoper

Christian Thielemann (conductor)

Orfeo C996202

11.20am – Record of the Week

Mahler: Symphony No. 7

Bayerisches Staatsorchester

Kirill Petrenko (conductor)

BSO Recordings BSOREC0001


Broadcast

  • Sat 12 Jun 2021 09:00

Composers A to Z

Composers A to Z

Visit the extensive Radio 3 audio archive of programmes about composers and their works.

Browse previous episodes of the Record Review Podcast

Browse previous episodes of the Record Review Podcast

All episodes since 2010, listed alphabetically by composer surname.

Why the music we love as teens stays with us for life

Cognitive neuropyschology can explain why we return to old favourites again and again.