BY KAREN BOSSICK
Get ready for a totally different experience when the Sun Valley Music Festival presents Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” at its 2022 Gala Concert.
The rollicking choral tour de force will be presented at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, July 31, at the Sun Valley Pavilion, with money from ticket sales going to support the Sun Valley Music Festival’s three weeks of summer concerts and educational initiatives.
The foot-stomping, spine-tingling music will be presented by the Festival Orchestra, Craig Jessop’s American Festival Chorus, the Cache Children’s Choir and three soloists: Soprano Meechot Marrero, tenor Nicholas Phan and baritone Hugh Russell.
Meechot Marrero is a young Puerto Rican soprano who has captivated audiences with the color palette of her unique vocal cords. Nicholas Phan has been praised by the Boston Globe as one of the world’s most remarkable singers. And Hugh Russell is a Canadian who is acclaimed for his charisma, dramatic energy and vocal beauty
It’s been said that if classical music had a rock opera, “Carmina Burana” would be it.
The exuberant piece is based on a set of 24 poems written in the 13th century by the Goliards—a group of defrocked monks and vagabond students who wrote of their lusty lifestyles and odes to fate and fortune. Their verses, which originated from Seckau Abbey in Austria, include biting satires of religious themes and nods to gambling, carnal pleasures and the joys of the tavern.
Orff composed the cantata—“Carmina Burana: Cantiones profanae cantoribus et choris cantandae comitantibus instrumentis atque imaginibus magicis”-- in 1935 and 1936.
The German composer’s masterpiece was an instant hit on the big orchestra circuit, but it has also invaded popular culture. King Arthur led his knights into battle in the movie “Excalibur” with music from “Carmina Burana.” When Jim Morrison hallucinated in “The Doors,” it was to the soundtrack of “Carmina Burana.”
Snatches of the music have also worked their way into “The Simpsons,” a Super Bowl commercial and YouTube flash mobs.
“This summer’s Gala Concert features a single work, Carl Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana,’ a piece that contains some of the most instantly recognizable music in the classical music repertoire,” said Music Director Alasdair Neale. “It’s an absolutely thrilling ride that will feature a stellar lineup of soloists as well as the American Festival Chorus.”
Tickets range from $85 on the lawn to $1,250 for the Sponsor Package tickets.
The Sponsor Package includes premium reserved concert seats, a pre-concert cocktail reception, VIP parking and a seated post-concert dinner with a short performance from the concert’s three soloists at the Grill at Knob Hill, along with a chance to meet the artists.
Tickets at the $275 and $550 levels include pre-concert cocktail reception and preferred seating in the Pavilion. Reserved Pavilion seats at $85 and $110 are also available.
Those on the lawn will be able to enjoy the concert at the Pavilion lawn’s 25-foot LED screen and state-of-the-art sound system.
Festival donors at the $1,250-and-up levels and Encore Society members will be offered priority ticketing, which will be sent them by email.
Sales to the public open at 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 13 online at https://www.svmusicfestival.org or by calling 208-622-5607.
Public sales for general admission lawn tickets will be available online only. Sponsor Package tickets are available only by phone.