Orff: Carmina Burana

«O Fortuna,
velut Luna
statu variabilis!
Semper crescis
aut decrescis»

"Oh Fate,

like the Moon

you are always variable!

You always grow

or decrease"

The National Symphony Orchestra of the Italian Conservatories conducted by Michele Spotti presents Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana at the Auditorium Parco della Musica. Inspired by a medieval manuscript of goliardic songs, the fascinating work is characterized by choral power, melodic suggestion and percussive force, all aspects that contribute to creating a passionate and exciting musical picture, which continues to involve audiences of all age groups.

The Carmina burana, composed by Carl Orff between 1935 and 1936, is a scenic cantata based on 24 poetic compositions among those found in the medieval collection of the same name, the work of goliards and clerici vagantes. The full title is "Carmina burana: Cantiones profanae cantoribus et choris, comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis".

This cantata belongs to Orff's theatrical triptych Trionfi (Triumphs), composed in different periods, and which also includes the Catulli Carmina (1943) and the Trionfo di Afrodite (Triumph of Aphrodite) (1953). The triptych was performed for the first time in 1937 in Frankfurt am Main while the Italian premiere was held in 1942 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

The work is composed of a prologue, five parts and a finale - a repetition of the first section of the prologue - and does not follow a precise plot but part of the structure of the composition is based on the concept of the turn of the Wheel of Fortune: in fact, on the first page of the collection of poems the wheel is represented with four sentences positioned around it. The piece O Fortuna opens and closes the cycle and is the most famous piece of the composition, characterized by a powerfully dramatic tone.

Choir and Children's Voices of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; choirmaster Andrea Secchi; children's choirmaster Claudia Morelli; soprano Marina Fita Monfort, tenor Omar Mancini.

Photo credits: courtesy of the Auditorium Parco della Musica official site