Symphony, chorale will join voices for Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana’

Even if you’ve never heard of Carl Orff or his choral masterpiece, “Carina Burana,” you’ve heard it.

“O Fortuna,” the epic, glorious movement that bookends Orff’s 1930s scenic cantata, has been featured in films as diverse as “Excalibur,” “The Doors” and “Jackass,” and on television shows including “The Simpsons” (twice), and Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “Cosmos.”

The Spokane Symphony, joined by the Spokane Symphony Chorale, soloists and guest artists, will bring Orff’s stunning work to life on the stage of the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox on Thursday.

Julián Gómez-Giraldo, director of orchestras at Eastern Washington University and artistic director of Spokane Symphony Chorale, compared “O Fortuna” to Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” in terms of its renown and popularity. It’s so popular that the symphony and chorale are performing it for the second season in a row.

“We did it last year and it was successful,” Gómez-Giraldo said. “It’s one of the most successful pieces in the repertoire in the world.”

The chorale, which numbers between 80 and 90 voices, has been working since January to master Orff’s rhythms and the languages of the piece – Latin and an old German dialect.

“People have to be very acquainted and react really, really fast and with intelligence to the pronunciation of the piece,” he said. “Then there is stamina, endurance you need to sing this piece that goes on for maybe a hour.”

Then there’s bringing the voices together with the full symphony.

“The symphony has huge instrumentation, especially with percussion,” he said. “So getting the voices to soar on top of the orchestra is very demanding.”

Helping the chorale will be three soloists – soprano Dawn Wolski, tenor Christopher Pfund and baritone Aaron St. Clair Nicholson – as well as the Spokane Area Youth Choirs, the EWU Symphonic Choir and the Whitworth choir. Gómez-Giraldo guesses there could be as many as 150 voices on stage Thursday night.

“Carmina Burana” and a May 22 concert featuring the chorale at St. John’s Cathedral mark the final two performances featuring Gómez-Giraldo as the chorale artistic director. He’s leaving the area after eight years to return to his native Colombia, where he plans to resume his international conducting career.

“I have invitations to go to Pakistan and Czech Republic and to England and to come back to the States,” he said. “I will continue teaching, of course, but not all the time. So this will be my farewell to the chorale and to Spokane as well.”