La Fenice: Carmina Burana

Synopsis

Cantana (1936)
Special Presentation! Captured live from Venice’s iconic Piazza San Marco, maestro Fabio Luisi conducts the La Fenice Choir and Orchestra for Carl Orff’s choral masterpiece, led by three top-flight soloists. Right from the powerful opening movement ‘O Fortuna’ – one of the most widely known pieces in Western music – ‘Carmina Burana’ is a captivating spectacle. Composed between 1935 and 1936, the work is based on 24 medieval poems that were among a collection found in a monastery in 1803. In this breathtaking, monumental piece, soaring cries on the unpredictability of fate transform into lilting celebrations of spring and the raucous pleasures of Bacchus and lust. The texts may be from the Middle Ages, but their sentiments – love, rejection, morality, beauty – are decidedly modern, depicting life in all its glory and volatility.

Patrons please note: This performance is presented in Latin without subtitles, as it was for its live European broadcast.

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