José Carreras - Kumbaya My Lord

Topic: Live versus Recorded Versions
José Carreras sang "Kumbaya" in concert with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and also recorded it. The live video has been removed since I viewed it in the spring of 2016, so I have to rely on my memory for describing the differences between the two.

The primary one, I think, was pacing. That’s not the same as tempo, which probably was the same. I think there were more pauses in the live version, but ones not long enough to register as such. This may simply be the result of a person accustomed to performing live being more relaxed in a concert than in a recording studio. In the one, when errors happen, no one notices. In the other, the artist must make another tape with all the attendant costs.

A second source for variations between records and life performances is acoustics. The concert was in the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. Most comments on the web were posted by concert or tour promoters, who, of course, only said positive things. An exception was Barbara Cacao, who said the hall is small and "the acoustics are not the best." [1] Robert Tidmarsh reported it had been renovated in 2010, after the Carreras concert. [2] The sound quality didn’t have to be bad, to be different than a recording studio. Just the small things, like the sounds of an audience talking or sneezing, make a difference.


A third possible difference between the two versions was a function of the size of the palace theatre. There may have been fewer musicians, fewer microphones, and different sorts of microphone accesses for the instrumental sections. Ozgur Nevres said the concert included five additional singers: Joan Orleans, Gary Lux, Bernhard Rabitsch, Patricia Graf-Simpson, and Sandrine Rohrmoser. [3] They would have produced a different sound than the chorus listed on the record: it claimed 150 members, but fewer may have been paid for the studio work with Carreras. It is even possible Carreras recorded with a small group, and the rest was added later. The credits included separate entries for engineers of the vocal recordings and the orchestral recordings. It listed album recording locations in Barcelona, Vienna, Hamburg, and London.

The other possible reason for differing listening experiences may lay in the natures of visual and auditory experiences. When one is watching someone sing, there are no breaks in concentration, even when there is no music. When one is only listening, pauses are obvious, and must be filled. I suppose the technology has grown so sophisticated that engineers can remove long pauses, so the sound is continuous. And again, the conductor can make subtle changes.

The impression is the recorded performance was highly polished while the live one had the variations and flaws that come from humans singing.

Performers
Live Performance
Instrumental Accompaniment: Vienna Symphony Orchestra

Recording
Vocal Accompaniment: Crouch End Festival Chorus.
Instrumental Accompaniment: Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Christian Kolonovits

Credit
EAI Edition, publisher

Notes on Lyrics
Language: English

Pronunciation:
Live Performance: Carreras strongly stressed the last syllable and had a clipped pronunciation of words.
Recording: Carreras stressed the last syllable, but his pronunciation was less clipped.

Format: "Kumbaya" was converted into a chorus for verses to a different tune. The additional text by Helmut Lotti and Wim Bohets had lines like "for the sun, that rises in the sky," which echoed nineteenth-century German nature hymns.

Ending:
Recording: "Oh, Lord, Kumbaya" repeated twice.

Notes on Music
Recording
Basic structure: Carreras sang a verse by himself, and the kumbaya refrain twice with the chorus. The second refrain began a tone higher than the previous one. Occasionally, Carreras ornamented a syllable.

Solo-group dynamics:
Carreras always sang. On the refrains, the chorus joined on the first "yah" and continued though the line.

Vocal-orchestral dynamics:
The recording began with disembodied voices in an echo chamber, as if it was imitating a space film. The sounds of the instruments were blurred so they only gave the impression of being strings and horns. Percussion only was strong before Carreras sang the first time.

Notes on Performers
Carreras is a Catalan-born lyric tenor best known for this appearances with Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. He began singing opera, but in 2001, when these recordings were made, was concentrating on concert performances.

Notes on Performance
Live version:
The Schönbrunn Palace was the summer home of the Hapsburgs in Vienna; the interior is ornate with gold and white walls and crystal chandeliers. Carreras and the orchestra wore black tuxedos with white ties. He stood straight when he was singing.

Availability
Album: Around The World. Warner Classics 8573-85798-2. 2001.

Live performance: uploaded to YouTube by EuroArtsChannel. Blocked in the United States.

End Notes
1. Barbara Cacao. "Schonbrunn Palace Vienna Guide – Pomp, Stucco And Hidden Gems." Vienna Upwrapped website

2. Robert M. Tidmarsh. "Schönbrunn Palace Theatre." His website.

3. Ozgur Nevres. "José Carreras sings Kumbaya my lord (with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra)." Andante Moderato website. 2 June 2015.

4. Crouch End Festival Chorus. "About Us" tab. Its website.