The vast majority of people who know and love the famous O Fortuna that opens and closes Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana have first come across it not through a performance of the work, but via its use in countless television shows, commercials and films. Local audiences will soon have the chance to enjoy the full Carmina Burana experience when the Napier Civic Choir, conducted by José Aparicio, presents this popular work in their first concert weekend of 2023. The two performances will be at St Pauls’ Church on Tennyson Street at 7.30pm on Saturday, April 1 and at 2.30pm on Sunday, April 2.
Since its triumphant premiere in 1937, Carmina Burana remains by far the most popular work Orff ever wrote. The text comes from a collection of early 13th-century songs and poems that was discovered in 1803 in a Bavarian monastery called Beuren, hence the name Carmina Burana, which translates from the Latin as ‘songs of Beuren’. The songs were written in a mix of Latin, German and medieval French by the Goliards, a band of poet-musicians who celebrated with earthy humour the joys of the tavern, nature and the many facets of love. In his musical setting, Orff deliberately moves away from what he saw as the over-sophistication of 19th-century Romantic music, aiming to reveal more of music’s basic, primordial elements. As a result, there is an emphasis on rhythm and catchy, repeated melodies, making it immediately appealing.
The concert features three soloists. Soprano Larissa Kent is originally from Havelock North and recently graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Music with First Honours. Larissa was a student at the New Zealand Opera School in 2020 and is a member of the NZ Opera Chorus, as well as Voices New Zealand. She performed as a guest artist for the Lexus recital concert series with renowned baritone Jonathan Lemalu in 2021, and performed with the NZSO in Brahms’ Schicksalslied in the same year.
The tenor makes a brief but characterful appearance, with Taylor Wallbank singing as the tragic roasted swan in Once I Lived On A Lake. A graduate of Project Prima Volta, Taylor recently completed his Bachelor of Music. He has performed regularly with Napier Civic Choir and around New Zealand as an oratorio soloist. He debuted his singing career as Le Remendado in Festival Opera’s production of Bizet’s Carmen in 2017 and also sang the role of Gastone in La traviata for Festival Opera in 2018.
