Santa Barbara Symphony joins choirs and State Street Ballet to present ‘Carmina Burana’
State Street Ballet will join vocalists and instrumentalists during the Santa Barbara Symphony’s collaboration with other arts groups for Carmina Burana.”
Nir Kabaretti has a great reason to be excited.
This weekend, more than 150 instrumentalists, vocalists and dancers will share The Granada stage as the Santa Barbara Symphony teams up with other arts organizations to perform Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.”
It’s a big production, and Maestro Kabaretti, the symphony’s music and artistic director, is looking forward to the concerts, set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at The Granada, 1214 State St., Santa Barbara.
The symphony last performed “Carmina Burana” in 2015 with the State Street Ballet and the Santa Barbara Choral Society. The orchestra played in the pit while the ballet troupe and the choir shared the stage.
“The audience loved it. It’s a huge crowd pleaser,” Maestro Kabaretti told the News-Press. “It’s one of those blockbusters that audiences love to hear.”
This time, the symphony, the State Street Ballet and the choral society will perform “Carmina Burana” together on stage, along with two additions — Quire of Voyces, the a cappella choir based at Santa Barbara City College, and the Music Academy of the West’s Sing! children’s choir.
Soloists are soprano Jana McIntyre, baritone Valdis Jansons and countertenor Randall Scotting.
“If you’ve never been to a (symphony) concert, if you’ve never been to the ballet, you will enjoy this,” Maestro Kabaretti said. “This music is extremely popular and was written for the heart. And it’s a unique opportunity for these (arts) organizations to come together.”
“Carmina Burana,” which Mr. Orff wrote in the 1930s, is based on the medieval collection of the same name. The collection consisted of more than 250 poems written by young European clergy known for their satirical poetry. The texts date back as far as the 11th century.
“They don’t speak about God and religion themes. They talk about (romantic) love and things that common people will enjoy,” Maestro Kabaretti said.
The poems discussed everything from gambling to crusades and corruption and were discovered in 1803 in a Benedictine monastery in composer Orff’s native Bavaria.
Orff complemented the monks’ poetry with dynamic and sensitive music.
“It has powerful music, incredible rhythms and beautiful orchestrations,” Maestro Kabaretti said. “The composer used six percussion instruments, so there are timpani, a xylophone and bells. It’s a huge, powerful, loud machine.
“Then all of the sudden, it’s one soprano singing with the strings,” Maestro Kabaretti said. “It’s very inspirational and very loud, but it has some beautiful soft moments.”
And he said the instrumentalists, vocalists and dancers can inspire each other as they see each other through a corner of their eye on the stage.
Maestro Kabaretti explained the dancers will be in the front, with the symphony elevated slightly behind them. The choirs will be on risers so they will be higher than the orchestra. “It’s a big pyramid on stage.”
And he said the children in the Music Academy of the West chorus will get the experience of performing with professional musicians. “I know this will be a life changing experience they will cherish.”
In fact, during one of Ms. McIntrye’s vocal solos, she is accompanied by the children’s choir in what becomes a musical conversation.
In addition to “Carmina Burana, the symphony and State Street Ballet will team up on “Pavane” by Gabrielle Faure’, featuring the world premiere of Mr. Soleau’s new choreography.
“Bill Soleau is a fantastic choreographer,” Maestro Kabaretti said.
And the spotlight will be entirely on the symphony as the orchestra performs Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Bacchanale” from his opera “Samson and Deliah.”
“It’s a beautiful piece to showcase all the fantastic musicians we have,” Maestro Kabaretti said.
email: dmason@newspress.com
FYI
The Santa Barbara Symphony will open its season at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 and 3 p.m. Oct. 16 with a concert featuring the State Street Ballet, the Santa Barbara Choral Society, the Quire of Voyces and the Music Academy of the West’s Sing! Children’s Chorus.
Tickets cost $35 to $175. To purchase, go to granadasb.org. For more information, go to thesymphony.org.
