Fortune Favours the Bold – Carmina Burana

You may recognise Carl Orff’s endlessly hummable cantata, but you’ve never heard it quite like this.

The Programme

In Medieval Bavaria, monks copied down a collection of mischievous songs by vagabond poets. In 1935, a German composer came across a second-hand book containing the songs and used it to create a blazingly exciting choral extravaganza.

Pounding rhythms, catchy tunes, sonorous Latin verses about wine, women and song – Orff’s Carmina Burana might have been an idiosyncratic hit, but it remains absolutely irresistible.

It’s paired with Shostakovich’s Third Symphony, which appears on the surface as an energetic paean to Soviet ideals – until you catch a glimpse of the underlying irony.

The Performers

Principal Guest Conductor Gianandrea Noseda steers the powerful forces of the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a rousing climax to the season. They’re joined by crystal-voiced soprano Christina Poulitsi, enthralling baritone Elliott Madore, Tiffin Boys’ Choir and tenor Sunnyboy Dladla as the roasted swan.

‘Everything I have written to date, and which you have, unfortunately, printed, can be destroyed. With Carmina Burana, my collected works begin.’ – Carl Orff, to his publisher

Header Image © Mark Allan