As the first of a trilogy of cantatas, Orff’s irreverent Carmina Burana draws from a 13th century compilation of medieval vagabond songs and poems detailing fate’s fickleness, pagan delights, and corruption. The primitivistic piece enraptures audiences with its hypnotic sensuality, preoccupation with a chant-like and ritualistic style, and powerful rhythms. Fantastic solo voices joined by the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus sing of the full range of human love, from pining to ecstatic and more. Hindemith’s reworked Symphonic Dances complete the program, which emerged from discarded ballet collaborations. Challenging counterpoint as well as soft, dignified passages constitute this Neo-Classical piece written in a tumultuous era of history.

JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Sara LeMesh, soprano
Kameron Lopreore, tenor
Joshua Conyers, baritone
Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus

HINDEMITH  Symphonic Dances
ORFF  Carmina Burana