The presentation of Carl Orff ’s Carmina Burana at the Guy Butler Theatre in Grahamstown was a proud moment. It was more than just an orchestral and choral performance. It was about celebrating Grahamstown’s social capital.
The presentation of Carl Orff ’s Carmina Burana at the Guy Butler Theatre in Grahamstown was a proud moment. It was more than just an orchestral and choral performance. It was about celebrating Grahamstown’s social capital.
From the very first moment when the conductor Juan Muñoz stood on the conductor’s podium and raised his hand to command his choir and orchestra for O Fortuna in the opening, it was certain that the wheel of fortune was going to spin in his favour.
Here’s how the triumphant production of Carmina Burana was put together (extract from Y4Y):
Both Muñoz and his pianist wife Muriel Illusorio are well known in Grahamstown for their passionate commitment to music education.
It must be certain that Muñoz’s passion and commitment to Carmina Burana can only be inspired by Carl Orff who, like Muñoz, also had a parallel career teaching music to children.
Presented by Graeme College and the Rhodes University Orchestra, the Guy Butler auditorium was an explosion of colour, harmony and excitement when more than 300 children drawn from Grahamstown’s DSG, Kingswood College, Mary Waters School, PJ Olivier High School, St Andrew’s College, TEM Mrwetyana School and Victoria Girls’ High School delighted an enthusiastic audience with a repertoire that is no easy task to perform.
Sung in Latin and old German, Carmina Burana drifts between combined choral adult male voices, children’s voices, an orchestra and the three solo voices.
The strength of any performance of Carmina Burana rests in the conductor’s ability to harmonise the experienced voices of adults in the production with that of its youth performers.
This is where Muñoz’s experience as a musician and a teacher was so pivotal for creating a production that will always be cherished by its 400 strong cast and by its appreciative audience.
Being part of an audience that swiftly rose to its feet on the Thursday night performance was an absolute blast. This was a standing ovation for more than just performance.
It was an accolade and a moving tribute paid to the adult musicians and choristers and to the teachers from all the participating schools in Grahamstown who came together with so many young people to celebrate diversity through the arts.
Carmina Burana is after all about so many different people. It is about so much variety. It is about different textures.
When so much of that was found and assembled on one stage just how does one resist not calling for an encore? Bravo to the full company.
