Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” with horses and artists – Munich

“Secular songs for singers and choirs, accompanied by instruments and magical images” is the translated original title of the medieval song collection on which Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” is based. The special staging of the piece as “Carmina Burana Cavallo” as part of the “Orff Festival” set up by Florian Zwipf-Zaharia promises to live up to the title: Dressage horses from different corners of Europe are to be presented in an interplay with acrobatics in provide very special images in the dark arena of Kaltenberg Castle. The Salzburg Philharmonic under the direction of its chief conductor Elisabeth Fuchs, the Mendelssohn Vocal Ensemble, the Tölzer Boys’ Choir and several soloists bring the world-famous melodies to life.

In his “Beurische Lieder” Orff used Latin and Middle High German song texts from the 11th and 12th centuries in scenes that depict a daily routine. The play consists of 24 scenes – the hours of a day. To this end, Orff created a work that was completely detached from the underlying medieval songs, but made use of medieval stylistic elements. The powerful, expressive setting inspires to this day – the “Carmina Burana” are considered the world’s most performed classical piece.

Strong image motifs – the “Carmina Burana” are particularly suitable for such an implementation

The power of fate forms the thematic framework. Within this framework, Orff processes timeless themes of human life: in the scenes entitled “In the Tavern”, for example, he devotes himself to the dangers of drinking, gluttony and lust, in the work entitled “Court of Love Adventures” to the joys and suffering of love. The central theme of fate keeps appearing in between, for example in the motif of a roasted swan that is about to be eaten: just snow-white and untouched, bursting with life and beauty, fate has now turned against him, he is slaughtered and roasted. The piece offers such strong visual motifs in several places: so it only makes sense to complete the musical staging with pictures. Here lies the strength of the “Carmina Burana Cavallo”, which impresses with impressive – acrobatic and ridden – formations. The scene of the roasted swan shows a rider with burning wings on a white horse. The (cloth) acrobat Nicola Elze performs a love scene with the rider Jörg Thurow. In the air, they merge into a couple in love.

In addition to the powerful images, the choice of horses is reason enough for connoisseurs to travel to Kaltenberg Castle. The show’s choreographer, Katrin Stolz, explains why baroque horses predominate – breeds with slightly convex heads and rounded shapes. Due to their special strength, they are ideally suited for stunts: they can gather most of their weight on their hind legs – and master difficult figures by relieving the load on their front legs. Suitable animals were found in horse groups throughout Europe.

Six light-colored geldings come from Belgium and were trained by the rider Iseulys Deslé in free dressage, explains Katrin Stolz : Deslé only sits on one of the horses at the beginning and end of her number – in between the six animals perform the rehearsed routines without instruction on. The fact that only castrated geldings were trained made dressage easier: “Women are basically much more difficult,” says Stolz, “and stallions are too testosterone-controlled”. The Belgian troop is the result of a special breed: A genetic defect was recognized as the cause of the very light coat and light blue eyes and was consciously bred further. The champagne tone of the horses is particularly popular, explains Stolz.

The group “Quadro Nuevo” prepares the visitors for the evening

Also on display for the first time in Germany are five bay Alter Réal horses from the renowned Portuguese Riding School. The five Alter Reals were trained for the particularly challenging Garrocha riding. The rider holds the garrocha, a long wooden stick that is lit on one side. The Portuguese Garrocha riders, including Miguel da Fonseca – one of Portugal’s most famous show riders – will make a spectacular display with their flaming poles in the dark arena, Stolz promises. Fire plays a special role in the show, she explains, the show as a whole is a game with the elements: the element of fire is brought into play by the Garrochas, various pyrotechnic elements and a fire show as the finale. The acrobatics performed in cloths stand for the element of air, while the horses embody the element of earth.

The beginning of the evening should already be a highlight. The group Quadro Nuevo wants to get the audience in the mood for Orff’s impressive but undeniably powerful music with ease. Pieces from the album “End of the Rainbow” will be played together with the Salzburg Philharmonic. The album combines self-written pieces by saxophonist Mulo Francel with world music classics – often with jazz and tango influences. “Que reste-t-il de nos amours?” by Charles Trenet can be found here, Peter Kreuder’s “You go through all my dreams” or the oriental folk song “Miserlou”. The group always leaves room for improvisation. Elisabeth Fuchs has to react to the improvisations with her huge orchestra – not that easy. But they have long been attuned to each other: in 2019 the Salzburg Philharmonic interpreted traditional German folk songs with Quadro Nuevo. Some numbers from the resulting album “Volkslied reloaded” will build a bridge to the rest of the program. The “high on the yellow car” loved by Walter Scheel and other folk songs give a foretaste of what is to come. As with “Carmina Burana”, something is offered that you don’t hear that often: a successful new edition of old German melodies.

“Carmina Burana Cavallo”Friday, August 5, 8 p.m., Kaltenberg Castle, Schloßstraße 10 in Geltendorf