The Orchestra and Choir of the Kraków Philharmonic under the baton of Alexander Humala reach for true classics. Carmina Burana, the stage cantata performed for the first time in 1937, enchants with its powerful music teeming with rhythm and the joy of life. Carl Orff composed it to secular lyrics from a mediaeval manuscript found in the Bavarian Benediktbeuern monastery, which gave name to its Latin title translated as Songs of Beuern.

The work comprises texts from over eight centuries ago, telling about twists of fate, the transience of being, the joy of spring, love’s delight and the pleasures and pitfalls of feasting, boozing and gambling – none of which are any less pertinent today. And although the O Fortuna chorus forewarns against the unpredictable whims of the Roman goddess, whose capriciousness delivers good and bad luck, power and poverty, victories and defeats, the work is a perfect choice for the time of Carnival.

Carl Orff Carmina Burana

Ewa Tracz – soprano
Adam Sobierajski – tenor
Tomasz Rak – baritone
Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir
Piotr Piwko – choirmaster
Alexander Humala – conductor