Tagged with 'Carl Orff'

A monumental event: the Hamburg State Opera will stage Carl Orff's triptych Trionfi on 21 September 2024. The production will be directed by Calixto Bieito and conducted by Kent Nagano.

The Carmina Burana with their mighty O Fortuna choirs are undoubtedly one of the most famous musical works of the modern era. However, the performance as a ‘Trittico teatrale’, i.e. as a combination of the three works Carmina Burana, Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite, is a rarity on the world's stages. With Trionfi, Carl Orff created a trilogy that searches for new forms of expression for music theatre and moves between the poles of opera, oratorio and cantata. 

Trionfi by Carl Orff: an XXL version of Carmina Burana

The title of the triptych refers back to the so-called Trionfi, the pageants and masquerades in the Italian republics and principalities of the Renaissance: heroes and gods of antiquity and their entourages were traditionally presented in these processions. In Orff's Trionfi, however, it is not a mythical figure that is at the centre of the action, but the world-dominating driving force of love itself is shown in its most diverse facets. In a sense, this driving force is explored by going back to the beginnings of our occidental history: from the Middle Ages back to Roman antiquity, and from there back to ancient Greece.

From a monastery text via Catullus to the Greek poet Sappho: Orff's enthusiasm was ignited by her timeless love poetry. However, as only fragments of this poet have survived, Orff felt compelled to mould lyrical fragments, individual stanzas and short verses into a whole. In contrast to the visually powerful Carmina Burana and the action-packed Catulli Carmina, the Trionfo di Afrodite is a ‘scenic concerto’ based primarily on words and music. (Johannes Schindlbeck, Orff Centre Munich)

Trionfi will be performed in a total of six performances at the Hamburg State Opera until 12 October 2024. This rarity is not to be missed. 

 

Further Reading:

Carl Orff: composer profile https://www.schott-music.com/en/person/carl-orff

Trionfi: work details and online score https://www.schott-music.com/en/trionfi-no250853.html 

Website Hamburg State Opera https://www.staatsoper-hamburg.de/en/schedule/event.php?AuffNr=210249

 

photo: Andrii Yalanskyi

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the cleverest of them all? Based on the story by the Brothers Grimm, Carl Orff's fairytale opera Die Kluge (The Wise Girl) will be performed at the Salzburg Festival on 20 August 2024 under the musical direction of Anna Handler. 

“O Fortuna” – this appeal to the goddess of destiny marks the beginning of the well-known cantata Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. Many have heard this work used in the soundtracks of film, television and advertisements, or in one of its countless concert performances around the world. This summer, audiences in Germany can enjoy performances at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival on 2 August and at the Rheingau Musik Festival on 4 August, both conducted by Justus Frantz with the Philharmonie der Nationen. Also on 4 August, the Hitachi Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Hideaki Muto will perform the work at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre.



The origin of Orff’s most famous work was a collection of more than 250 medieval poems, songs and dramas, the “Carmina Burana” (or “Songs from Benediktbeurern”), named after the Bavarian monastery in which the collection was found in the early 19^th century. The texts are in different medieval languages and deal with a variety of themes: Love and drinking songs are side by side with chants of mourning and spiritual anthems. Orff became acquainted with the collection in 1934 and was fascinated by the texts.

Picture and word seized hold of me. Although for the moment I was acquainted only along general lines with the contents of the collection of poems, a new work – a stage work with singing and dancing choruses, simply following the illustrations and the texts – at once came into my mind. – Carl Orff

Orff combined 24 of the collection’s texts to form his new work. He worked freely with the collection, mixing medieval Latin, Middle High German and old French sources, sometimes using single verses and bringing them into a new order.

Carl Orff: Carmina Burana – Dramatic cantata with medieval texts

Although the “Carmina Burana” contains hints for a musical shaping of its texts, Orff composed the music for his Carmina Burana completely anew. Nevertheless, there are echoes of the medieval in Orff’s music in his use of church modes and sustained harmonies. He renounces the musical development of themes and melodies in favour of a more repetitive form.

Today, Carmina Burana is performed mainly in concert rather than staged as Orff originally conceived, though the piece can and has formed the bases for danced or dramatic realisations. A starting point for such a production can be found in the work’s three-part dramaturgy, with its sections entitled “Primo vere”, around the theme of spring both in nature and in human relationships, “In taberna” depicting a tavern scene, and “Cours d’amour” exploring the pleasure and despair associated with love. The monumental appeal to Fortuna frames the three main sections and casts these worldly experiences as divine dispensation.

In addition to the many performances of Carmina Burana, two of Orff’s operas can also be seen in the coming weeks. A new production of his first opera, Gisei, opens on 8 August at the Carl Orff Fest in Andechs, and on 2 October a new reduced version of Die Kluge will be performed in the Munich Gärtnerplatztheater.

 

• Carl Orff - profile


• Carmina Burana - work details


• Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival


• Rheingau Musik Festival


• Hitachi Philharmonic Orchestra

 

Photo: Ludwig Sievert´s draft of the world premiere´s stage design