De temporum fine comoedia: Libretto (Greek, Latin, German) (Schott) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is the libretto, published by the score's publisher Schott, of Carl Orff's last stage work from 1973, De Temporum Fine Comoedia (The Play on the End of Times) and it can serve as a complement to the only, but stellar recording, by Karajan with the forces that premiered the piece in Salzburg in 1973, including Christa Ludwig and Peter Schreier for a 2-minute guest star appearance (see my review of De Temporum Fine Comoedia / Play for the End of Time). The disc's liner notes have a synopsis, which is of little help since the work features no "plot" in the traditional, operatic sense, but rather a collection of prophecies, visions and utterances, all dealing with the end of the world.

However, truth is, the libretto won't help much. Orff uses texts in Ancient Greek, Latin and German - excerpts from mystical writings from the Greco-Roman (the Sibyl's Oracles, the Orphic Hymns) and the Christian (Origen, the 11th-13th Century Carmina Burana) traditions. The Greek texts are printed in Cyrillic alphabet, and only German translations of the Greek and Latin texts are given. So for this libretto to be of any use you need to be able to decipher Cyrillic (I had to muster old memories from my three months of Russian in college to vaguely be able to follow what was being sung) and understand German - then it becomes a nice intellectual exercice: follow the Cyrillic with one eye and try to make out what's being sung from the German translation on the side page.

Click Here to see more reviews about: De temporum fine comoedia: Libretto (Greek, Latin, German) (Schott)

Product Description:
De temporum fine comoedia

Want to read more honest consumer review about De temporum fine comoedia: Libretto (Greek, Latin, German) (Schott) now ?