Looking to altar history
ADRAMATIC adaptation of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana will feature more than 80 musicians and choristers on stage at the Farrall Centre in North Hobart this weekend.
Producer Hans Kooij said the orchestrally scaled-down version, developed by Orff’s student Wilhelm Killmayer with the composer’s approval, would have all the power and excitement of the original.
It will feature two identical grand pianos on stage, along with five percussionists and timpani, three soloists, two choirs and a narrator, led
by conductor Matthew Anning.
“Killmayer’s arrangement allows for a performance with chamber forces, without sacrificing its grandeur, soundscape, impact or musical drama,” Kooij said.
“It will be the same as the original, except it doesn’t use the large orchestra. However, that allows the choirs and soloists to stand out and to sound really raw and honest.
“There will be one or two updated elements, including the use of a narrator to help explain the lyrics, and some challenges to traditional gender roles.
“The percussion includes a lot of instruments, and really ramps it up to give a driving, primal quality.”
Orff wrote the work in 1935 using a selection 11th to 13th century secular poems by Bavarian monks, which had been recently discovered.
“They are in a mixture of languages, including Latin, German and French, and were considered profane at the time they were written because they dealt with secular subjects,” Kooij said.
“The poetry is bawdy, satirical, irreverent, tender and joyous, and it provides a glimpse into the medieval mind at a time when there was very little secular writing. The poems depict things like pleasure, lust, drinking, the woes of life, and death.”
He said projected images representing the subjects of the poems would also add to the drama.
Carmina Burana will be performed at the Farrall Centre at The Friends’ School in North Hobart at 7.30pm on Saturday and 2.30pm on Sunday.
Tickets are $42 for adults, $36 concession, available from www.trybooking.com/BBJHA or at the door.