Carl Orff
The scenic cantata by Carl Orff, the dramatic Carmina Burana, under the baton of conductor Ivan Hut and staged by Polish opera director Michał Znaniecki, will ceremoniously open the 70th Split Summer Festival at the Peristyle. Along with the Orchestra, Choir, and Ballet of the Croatian National Theatre Split, renowned soloists—soprano Marcelina Román, tenor Franko Klisović, and baritone Ljubomir Puškarić—will also perform.
The monumental musical work by Carl Orff, Carmina Burana, masterfully combines Latin, Middle High German, and Old French, and through its universal themes, across the three parts of the cantata, touches the very essence of human existence through frivolous eroticism and naturalism skillfully alternating with humor and satire. The piece is part of a triptych formed with the later Catulli Carmina (Songs of Catullus) and Trionfo di Afrodite (The Triumph of Aphrodite). By selecting a certain number of songs for his work, Orff grouped them according to thematic similarity: of the three parts of the cantata, the first part celebrates spring, the second portrays elemental life pleasures with wine and cheerful disposition, and the third exalts love. The first and last pieces of the cantata are dedicated to the goddess Fortuna, whose whims determine the happiness and misfortune of every individual. Vital, powerful, and exciting, Orff’s cantata captivated the audience at its premiere at the Frankfurt Opera in 1937, and the composer himself, after the premiere, told his publisher: “Everything I have written to date, and which you have unfortunately published, you can now throw away. With ‘Carmina Burana,’ my collected works begin.”
