Another Gratuitous Peter Mattei Post – Carmina Burana (ca. 1995)

Before Peter Mattei became world-famous (at least among opera lovers) he was nation-famous – in his native Sweden. He made several recordings in relative obscurity on the Swedish recording label BIS, mostly singing music of Swedish composers. Since BIS also had pianist Roland Pontinen, the Kroumata Percussion Ensemble, and other Swedish musicians on hand, they made this recording of the chamber version of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana for two pianos and percussion. At Amazon.com, Santa Fe Listener (one of the non-stupid reviewers) said:

...what led me to this recording in the first place was the remarkable solo singing by Swedish baritone Peter Mattei. He was thirty in 1995 and a rising young star, but no one could have predicted the suave subtlety he brings to Orff's songs, along with power and ebullience when they are called for. Luckily, his seven solos can be heard separately on a collection called [A] Kaleidoscope...

Anyone listening to him sing Omnia sol Temperat back in 1995, when he was a mere 30 years old, could have predicted a great career in the making. Sigh.