Carl Orff: Carmina Burana

Ágnes Molnár soprano
István Horváth tenor
Zsolt Haja baritone

Hungarian National Choir (choirmaster: Csaba Somos)
The Girl’s Choir of Zoltán Kodály Hungarian Choir School (Chorus Masters: Borbála Sapszon, Ferenc Sapszon)
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor: Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi

Orff’s large-scale oratorical composition based on a collection of medieval Latin poetry became one of the most popular classical music works of the 20th century. The piece’s popularity rivalled that of rock music – truly a valid comparison as pulsating rhythm was also a defining element in Carmina Burana’s new style of refined simplicity and archaic influences. The theme of the work deals with the wheel of fortune, wine and rapturous love. The conductor is the legendary Japanese wizard Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, who has formed an intimate relationship with the Hungarian Philharmonic Orchestra. It promises to be a truly special evening!

Originally, the title Carmina Burana referred not a piece of music, but rather a medieval (13th century) codex containing a collection of poetry. The texts, predominantly written in Latin and partially in Middle High German, Old French and Provencal, were found in the Benediktbeuern Monastery in Bavaria. In 1935/36, the German composer Carl Orff (1895–1982) set 24 verses of this goliardic poetry of scholars and monks to music, creating a large-scale cantata. The musical language of the work is characterised by rawness and directness; a modernisation of an imagined medieval style. A ‘neo’-style, then, yet one that is still thrillingly and zestfully new, just like the numerous neoclassical works that Stravinsky composed around the same time. There is something magical about Carmina Burana, a feeling that is enhanced by the vital role of repetition in the work. This remarkably stirring, hypnotising music never fails to hit the spot. Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, the one-time winner of the Budapest International Conducting Competition, has been a favourite of Hungarian audiences for half a century. Kobayashi guarantees thrills in every genre and style, though he is always most at home when dealing with monumental oratorical compositions that require a large concert apparatus. So we can be sure that under his baton, the true sorcery of Carmina Burana will be brought to the fore.