Carmina Burana

Even if you’re unfamiliar with Carmina Burana, you’ve heard it, and felt it. Carl Orff’s 1937 larger-than-life spectacle is one of the most epic works ever written, thrilling audiences from concert halls to blockbuster movies.  The enormous, full-throttle ‘O Fortuna’ opens this musical feast for the senses with visceral energy that suddenly subsides to an ominous hush – all within the first few measures. Based on a collection of 13th century medieval poems, it’s an earthy and raucous ode to faith, fortune, and all that’s luscious in life. With primal rhythms and passionate extremes, the music comes full circle, reminding us that the wheel of fate keeps eternally turning.