Carmina Burana at the Royal Albert Hall

Carmina Burana at the Royal Albert Hall Royal Albert Hall in Kensington, London for a concert.

The program was:

BERLIOZ - Rakoczy March (from the Damnation of Faust)

SAINT-SAENS - Organ Symphoney

ORFF - Carmina Burana

The orchestra was the London Philharmonic conducted by AndrewGreenwood with the Royal Choral Society, London Philharmonic Choir, Hertfordshire Chorus and Southend Boys Choir.

The soloists were:

Iain Paton - tenor
Gail Pearson - soprano
Grant Doyle - baritone
John Birch - organ

The Rakoczy March is quite a short piece but still makes quite an impact for all that. Saint-Saens Organ Symphoney is a piece with some wonderfully varied music from delicate orchestral passages to passages that use the venue's organ to the full.

After the interval was the complete performance of Carmina Burana. The opening eight bars from the massed chorus to O Fortuna setting the scene for a dramatic performance of Orff's setting of the medieval poems and songs.

The performance was given a personal twist for me as two work colleagues were singing in the chorus.