Carmina Burana

The chorus’ intonation and ensemble are excellent...
...the very characterful baritone, Zsolt Haja, combines power and lyricism and need fear no comparison.
...the conductor, Gábor Hollerung, who chooses sensible tempi, carefully delineates line and rhythm and – allowing for the small string band - plays close attention to instrumental detail and balance.
...within a nice middle-distance overall balance  the bass-drum sounds huge, with admirable definition, the two pianos are always audible, the brass have presence and sparkle and the woodwind are never swamped (the piccolo is very clear in Fortuna…vulnera for example). Being recorded in DSD256 there is plenty of space on the DSD512 download, the generous acoustic is beautifully captured, the dynamic range is excellent and DSD512 is the nearest digital can get to equalling classic analogue when reproducing the vibrancy of the human voice.

This performance of Carmina Burana rises to among the better of the performances I have in my library. What is most striking to my ears is the clarity of the voices in the chorus. More so than almost any other recording I have, the voices here are clear, highly resolved and very articulate. One can actually hear each sung word, which is a truly remarkable credit to both chorus, given that it's being sung in vernacular Latin, and to recording engineer.

This recording was made in a dedicated recording session over three days, but after many prior live performances in the same venue. The performers all sound immensely well-prepared in this final recording.