Carmina Burana
I just returned from a spectacular performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana by the San Francisco Symphony. Carmina Burana is a Latin oratorio (vocalists, chorus, and orchestra; like an opera but no acting, costumes, or sets), first performed in 1937.
The most well-known (and, in my opinion, best) song from the work is “O Fortuna”, which has been used in many movie soundtracks. It starts off the performance, and hearing it is like being hit with a wall of sound – the sheer power is astounding. You can hear a recording of it at Amazon.com. A particularly amusing track is “In taberna quando sumus”, which is effectively a Latin drinking song.
Worth a listen, even for those who don’t usually appreciate classical music.
Comment by jared
Stebila!
In Taberna – 12. The Roast Swan
Once I lived on lakes,
once I looked beautiful
when I was a swan.
(Male chorus)
Misery me!
Now black
and roasting fiercely!
(Tenor)
The servant is turning me on the spit;
I am burning fiercely on the pyre:
the steward now serves me up.
Ah, high art. I attended a Carmina Burana performance in London, Ontario, and must say that I second the recommendation.
Comment by Matt D
Ah Doug, fans of Middle High German might be upset that you excluded them (parts 8, 9 and 10).
I first heard the Carmina Burana in the movie Young Sherlock Holmes, then in a beer commercial. I then bought a copy off the Naxos label after a long embarassing dialogue with a Sam’s staffer, which involved a lot of “you know, it goes like…” and “it’s used in beer commercials”, all at the age of 12… …coincidentally in London ON.
Comment by Jesse
As part of my thesis research, I’ve been reading about opera in Canada. Linda Hutcheon (chair of English at U of T and past President of the MLA) believes it is the fastest growing genre in Canada. I wonder, when did the opera fans who read this site start going to operas?
