{TABLE} The Witch's Ride (Hansel and Gretel) .......... Humperdinck Danse Macabre ................................. Saint-Saens Night on the Bare Mountain .................... Mussorgsky Carmina Burana ................................ Orff {/TABLE} CARL ORFF'S Carmina Burana is full of opportunities for cheap musical thrills. Most conductors yield to the temptation, but at the National Concert Hall last night Manchester born Mark Shanahan did not. Under his direction, the RTE Concert Orchestra's playing was purposeful, shapely and well balanced.
Saint Saens's Danse Macabre is often treated as an orchestral showcase, full of hard driven, frenetic energy. In this performance, however, the held back tempo helped to produce an eerie menace, especially in Michael d'Arcy's violin solos. On the other hand, Mussorgsky's Night on the Bare Mountain had a fire in the belly perfectly suited to such forceful music.
In Carmina Burana, the main chorus was formed by the Tallaght Choral Society and the Dublin County Choir, who produced the most expressively focused, disciplined singing I have heard from either group. The semi chorus was sung by the National Chamber Choir, which was on top form; and the Tallaght Boys' Choir was excellent as the children's chorus the best singing I have heard from them, too.
Orff envisaged Carmina Burana "total theatre", involving music, dance and mime. Shanahan might have had this in mind, for instead of the usual raw energy we had an ample pacing and a precision of musical gesture ideal for a staged performance. Barbara Kilduff (soprano), Nicholas Clapton (tenor) and Karl Daymond (baritone) all experienced opera singers delivered a complementary theatrical character. In this strong group of soloists Kilduff stood out. She was superb. Of the many performances of Carmina Burana I have heard over the last 20 years or so, this was by far the best.