Classical Concert Reviews Cinci

@uc_ccm’s Concert Orchestra and @ccm_choralstudies graced the stage of Cincinnati Music Hall this evening with players and singers from no fewer than 10 additional ensembles from throughout the Cincinnati area for a fantastic performance of Carl Orff’s cantata Carmina Burana. Under the direction of the CCM orchestra’s principal conductor Aik Kai Pung, the massed orchestra (including string players from Walnut Hills High School, Seven Hills and Princeton High School) opened with a world premiere score by the young Cincinnati-based composer Andrew Strawn titled Silhouettes. Lasting around 10-12 minutes, it captured the spirit of composers such as Franz Liszt, Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Camille Saint-Saëns and modern American harmonies found in music by Aaron Copland and John Williams.
The massed choirs totaling around 300 singers then joined for Orff’s Carmina Burana. One of the hallmarks of 20th-century choral-orchestral works, to see so many volunteer/community choirs tackle a piece of this magnitude is a daring feat, indeed. Their singing throughout was crisp and articulate, though to a degree
Very often, the orchestra drowned out the chorus in more dramatic moments or otherwise struggled to follow Maestro Pung’s rather brisk tempo. The former could also be true for some of the baritone solos sung beautifully by CCM student artist Erik Nordstrom. The smaller contributions from soprano Ahhyun Beck and tenor Reed Gnepper (in the song of the roasting swan) were gripping and evocative.
Also joining the onstage musicians were students of the CCM Dance Department, performing creative choreography by its director, Shauna Steele. While interesting on a technical level, it also felt very bonding, is the space to dance was limited to the far left and right sides of the stage and the aisles surrounding seats on the hall’s lowest floor. Perhaps it would have worked if the orchestra players were in a pit setting so it could be more fully staged, but this was not the case.
All in all, a worthy endeavor for student musicians to perform Carl Orff’s music and I am certainly looking forward to future performances at Music Hall from this group of rising talents.