http://www.austin360.com/xl/content/arts/xl/2005/09/arts_09-29-05.html

Arts

'Carmina Burana' turns into a dance party for Austin

By Jeanne Claire van Ryzin
Sept. 29, 2005

Start with the numbers.

There will be an orchestra of 80 musicians, a chorus of 92 adults and a children's chorus of 50. And then there are 20 dancers.

When Ballet Austin artistic director Stephen Mills decided about a year ago to create a new ballet to Karl Orff's dramatic choral masterpiece, "Carmina Burana," the choreographer invited a few friends. And it just so happened that those friends — Austin Symphony Orchestra conductor Peter Bay and Craig Hella Johnson, conductor of Austin's premier choral ensemble Conspirare — usually have, well, lots of people following them around.

And this week, all of those people will come together on the Bass Concert Hall stage (or in the orchestra pit or slightly off-stage, in the case of the children's choir who will be singing from the wings) for a live music and dance spectacle.

"I wanted this to be as much a musical experience as a dance experience," Mills explains.

And what better way to approach Orff's musical interpretation of irreverent and bawdy medieval poems than to pull out all the stops?

"Carmina Burana" is based on material written in the 13th century by clergy (probably students, scholars speculate) who lampooned and satirized the church with risqué stories of lust, drinking and fate. The texts, written in Latin and a dialect of Middle High German, were rediscovered in the 19th century. Orff took a selection of the poems and wrote a soaring 60-minute choral work that combines highly rhythmic and percussive passages with melodic solos.

"Oftentimes, people try to look for a story in 'Carmina,' and there really isn't one," Mills says. And so in crafting his ballet, Mills opted for a more abstract interpretation, drawing off the charging rhythms and using the basic images of "Carmina" — love, lust, gluttony, partying, fate and the wheel of fortune.

"Carmina" has been a hit since Orff first presented it in 1937. Used in countless television commercials, it served as background music in movies such as "Excalibur" and "Natural Born Killers." Portions of it have been sampled by Ministry and Enigma, among other bands. The Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek did a symphonic rock adaptation. Apotheosis did a techno version of the opening "O Fortuna" section.

So just what makes "Carmina" so irresistible?

"It has a wonderful roller-coasterlike emotional and dynamic construction from start to finish," Bay says. "It's this 'journey' that makes 'Carmina' so fun and what makes an hour-long piece seem to go by so quickly. The colors of the instruments and even those of the vocal soloists and chorus have such a captivating power and such an alluring quality that you can't help but be swept along. 'Carmina' is one of those pieces in the classical repertoire that has such a unique sound — not even Orff himself could duplicate it in any of his subsequent works."

Johnson thinks the piece has "rock concert appeal." Maybe that's why five years ago, when Conspirare performed "Carmina," they invited the audience to sing along with the opening four bars, the memorable "O Fortuna" segment. Then in 2002, Conspirare staged an even more elaborate "Carmina" sing-a-long. "I think people love the exciting, broad-gestured sweep of the piece," he says. "Certainly, there's a compelling driving energy throughout. The first and last movements serve as the musical metaphor of the great, turning wheel of fortune. And there is this great sense of common experience in this, as the voices cry out to fortune.

And then there's that tempting subject matter.

"The texts are remarkably bawdy, which suggests people from the 13th century are very much like us," Bay says. "Fate, drinking and love are still topical today."

Indeed, nearly everyone, it seems, will come out for fate, drinking and love.

"'Carmina' always brings out a really colorful and diverse crowd," Johnson says. "At our performance in 2000, I remember older couples in formal evening wear, students in jeans and T-shirts, a Goth contingent, mothers with infants, arts lovers of all kinds — and many dedicated church choir members."

And he sees no reason a similar crowd won't turn out for this latest incarnation of "Carmina."

"Basically, this is just a great music and dance party for Austin."

jvanryzin@statesman.com; 445-3699
 

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