I have been in this production 3 other times and every time I was a member of the Children’s chorus. It was so much fun to sing the full piece. It is raucous, it is stunning, it is awesome!

Cristian Macelaru - Conductor
Olga Pudova - Soprano
Nicholas Phan - Tenor
Stephen Powell - Baritone
Philadelphia Symphonic Choir - Mixed chorus
The American Boychoir - Boys choir

PROGRAM

Beethoven - Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36

INTERMISSION -

Orff - Carmina burana

“O Fortune! Like the moon ever-changing,” the massive choir bellows amidst the opening clash of cymbals and banging of drums, but ever-constant is the enduring popularity of Carmina burana, Orff’s heart-pounding and tantalizing tale of drinking and debauchery. It was a hit from the start. Whether you know it from the movies or TV commercials, rappers or Philadelphia’s own Mummers, nothing can quite prepare you for The Philadelphia Orchestra’s live and lusty delivery, vigorously led in these performances by the Orchestra’s own Cristian Macelaru, whose career has quickly taken on international proportions. Beethoven was having his own showdown with fortune when he composed his Second Symphony. He might justifiably have manifested despair in the early stages of hearing loss, but instead wrote one of his most ebullient and life-affirming works.

***Program descriptions come from The Philadelphia Orchestra