Erie Philharmonic Closes 2023 Season with Carmina Burana

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The Erie Philharmonic closes out their current season with the symphonic masterpiece Carmina Burana. Described as a feast for the senses, the evening will feature Carl Orff's titular piece, as well as two additional violin works, along with the voices of the Erie Philharmonic Chorus and Youth Chorale.

SATURDAY, MAY 11

The Erie Philharmonic will close its 2023-24 symphonic season with Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, with the iconic cantata featuring the Erie Philharmonic Chorus and the Erie Philharmonic Youth Chorale. Soprano Teresa Perotta, tenor Arnold Livingston Geis, and baritone Johnathan McCullough will be featured as soloists. Preceding the piece will be performances with virtuoso violinist Stella Chen of Franz Waxman's Carmen Fantasie and Poeme by Ernest Chausson.

"Journey with us for a thrilling season finale, a concert that features an exciting pairing of Orff's dynamic work, Carmina Burana, with two delightful works for violin and orchestra," the Erie Philharmonic describes. "With the voices of the Philharmonic Chorus and Youth Chorale echoing through the hall, feel the raw power course through Orff's masterpiece. This concert is more than just a performance; it's a feast for the senses, celebrating the conclusion of a colorful and brilliant Erie Philharmonic season."

Orff was inspired by the 13th-century manuscript of the same name, first published in Germany in 1847 by philologist Joann Andreas Schmeller. Containing over 1,000 songs in a mix of Latin, Middle High German, and Old French, "Carmina Burana" is translated to "Songs of Beuren" and is attributed to a group of poet-musicians known as the Goliards. The original songs contained an early system of music notation with "neume," which showed the general shape of the musical phrase before the invention of the five-line staff. With the assistance of Latin scholar Michael Hofmann, Orff chose 24 songs to set to music and divided the pieces into three movements: "In Spring," "In The Tavern," and "Court of Love." Orff prioritized rhythm as the primary musical element similar to Russian composer Igor Stravinsky and was influenced by musical models of the Renaissance and Baroque eras, specifically English composer William Byrd and Italian choirmaster Claudio Monteverdi.

Carmina Burana premiered on June 8, 1937 in Frankfurt, featuring sets and costumes to accompany the piece. The first American performance was on Jan. 10, 1954 by the Scholar Cantorum of the University of San Francisco. Along with numerous versions being arranged for choirs, wind ensembles, and chamber orchestras, Orff's compositions became a standard in modern ballet repertoire, as choreographer John Butler premiered his vision for the piece on Sept. 24, 1959 featuring Metropolitan Opera prima ballerina Carmen de Lavallade and modern dance revolutionary Glen Tetley.

Waxman was known primarily for his film scores, being showcased in movies such as Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca and Rear Window, as well as Sunset Boulevard and Bride of Frankenstein. Taking inspiration from George Bizet's Carmen, Waxman composed Carmen Fantasie as a showcase for violin and orchestra as part of his score to the 1946 Warner Brothers film Humoresque. It featured Joan Crawford as a patron romanced by a violinist, played by John Garfield, and was nominated for Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Film at the Oscars.

Ernest Chausson similarly took inspiration from a love story, being in the form of the 1881 novella The Songs of Love Triumphant by Russian author Ivan Turgenev. Finishing the concerto in less than two months while vacationing in Florence, Chausson dedicated the piece to fellow violinist Eugene Ysaye, who had requested the composition. Poeme premiered on Dec. 27, 1896 in Nancy, France under the direction of Guy Ropartz with Ysaye as the soloist.

Chen has performed with orchestras around the world, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Belgian National Orchestra, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She won first prize at the 2019 Queen Elizabeth International Violin Competition, going on to receive the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award in 2020 along with the award for Young Artist of the Year at the 2023 Graphophone Classical Music Awards. A graduate of Harvard University, the Juilliard School, and the New England Conservatory of Music, Chen plays the 1720 General Kyd Stradivarius and the 1708 Huggins Stradivarius.

8 p.m. // Warner Theatre, 811 State St. // $17-$61 // Tickets and info: eriephil.org