Opera Returns to ArtPark with the North American Premiere of Carl Orff's 'Carmina Burana' by La Fura dels Baus with Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

CONDUCTED BY GIL ROSE ON JULY 29, 2023

(Lewiston, NY) -  Celebrating its 50th season, Artpark kicks off its new opera program with the North American premiere of La Fura Dels Baus’s production of Carl Orff’s masterpiece CARMINA BURANA in the Artpark Mainstage Theater on Saturday, July 29, 2023 at 8:00PM. 

The renowned production by Spain’s La Fura Dels Baus & Ibercamera features stage direction and set design by Carlus Padrissa with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gil Rose, Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and other community groups. Featured soloists will include: Antoni Marsol Puig; Luca Espinosa Gil; Amparo Navarro Serra; and Jordi Domenech Subirans.

This spectacle, an explosion of all the senses that has been experienced by more than 325,000 people in Europe, Asia and South America, will make its North American premiere at Artpark.

This hour-long theatrical spectacle featuring over 220 artists will immerse the audience into the universe of La Fura dels Baus with striking imagery and special effects: a giant moon, waterfalls, a floral ecstasy with scents of lavender, a live grape harvest, taverns, singers flying on cranes or submerged in water, wine and fire…  “O Fortuna!” 

"Carmina Burana is completely furera", proclaims Carlus Padrissa, the Artistic director of the group and the production. For a total of 44 years, La Fura dels Baus has been rocking, blowing up stages, opera houses, venues, tents, bullrings, football stadiums, and now they land at Artpark to offer his theatrical vision of one of the musical works that is performed the most throughout the world.”

Conductor Gil Rose states “Carl Orff described his most popular work Carmina Burana as “Secular songs for soloists and choir accompanied by instruments and stage pictures. Though almost always presented as a purely concert work, imagery and narrative were clearly part of the composer’s thinking. I can’t think of a better way to launch our new initiative to bring Opera back to Artpark than with Fura’s visual feast for the eyes in tandem with the glorious sound of the Buffalo Philharmonic and Chorus giving Orff’s vision a rendition not to be missed.”

“Artpark has a substantial legacy in opera: from the North American premiere of Philip Glass’ “Satiagraha” in 1981 to the famed four-year staging of Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” in 1984-88 under then music director Christopher Keen,” adds Sonia Clark, President of Artpark & Company. “It could not have been more meaningful for us to reinstate the program in Artpark’s 50th season under the guidance of our new Opera conductor and producer, Gil Rose. This production by Fura dels Baus is also the next step in our ongoing commitment to bold world-class programming and is reflective of Artpark Board of Directors recently adapted vision for Artpark as an international destination for live and visual arts embracing the relationship of Art, Nature, and Culture to create experiences of discovery and awe.”

"If there is a great and sensual score, glorious and energetic, erotic and explosive, as full of life and sin as it is of irony, parody and excess, that is the provocative Carmina Burana, by Carl Orff. … Those medieval texts written between the 12th and 13th centuries, found in the monastery of Bura Sancti Benedicti (Bavaria), where the monks and students laughed at everything established and sang of excessive pleasure, wine, and permanent revelry have lasted throughout the 20th century and continue to do so in the 21st, since Orff put them to music in 1938. Pure gold for a group like La Fura dels Baus.” El Pais, 2009

More on La Fura dels Baus:

La Fura dels Baus is a theatrical group founded in 1979 in Barcelona, Spain and renowned for its eccentricity, innovation, adaptation, rhythm, evolution and transgression. Such characteristics led the company to pioneer the reconceptualization of two of the most significant aspects of the dramatic art – the theatrical space and the public. Thus, respectively, they redefined the space by moving it to non-conventional ones – and changed the public role from passive to active, which meant a breaking of the “fourth wall”. And it is that there is no creation without risk – a compiled premise from the beginning, since their first street shows, where the authentic essence of La Fura was born. NME has stated the group "creates a kind of adult adventure playground of fun, danger, slapstick and fantasy.” Among their many large-scale productions seen worldwide, the group has performed at high profile events including the opening ceremonies of the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, the 2010 opening of the Perth International Arts Festival, and more. In the US, the company was last seen with its production of Haydn’s “Creation” at Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, New York:

More on Gil Rose:

Often referred to as “a musician helping to shape the future of classical music”, Gil Rose is acknowledged for his “sense of style and sophistication” by Opera News, noted as “an amazingly versatile conductor” by The Boston Globe, and praised for conducting with “admiral command” by The New York Times and has been called “one of the most adventurous conductors in the world” by KUSC Radio. Over the past two decades he has built a reputation as one of the country’s most inventive and versatile conductors. His dynamic performances on both the symphonic and operatic stages as well as over 100 recordings have garnered international critical praise.

Reserved seat tickets begin at $25.00 and include facility fee. Additional fees apply for online orders.

Tickets will be available for purchase online at ticketmaster.com and Artpark’s box office.  The Artpark box office is open Tuesday - Friday from 10AM-4PM & Saturday 10AM-2PM.

Made possible in part by generous support from the M&T Bank Charitable Foundation and Artpark.

Mature content may not be appropriate for all audiences.

FULL CREDITS:

Artpark Presents:
Carl Orff's CARMINA BURANA
a FURA DELS BAUS & IBERCAMERA production
Carlus Padrissa, Stage Director and Set Design
Featuring:
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Gil Rose
Antoni Marsol Puig, Barritone
Luca Espinosa Gil, Soprano
Amparo Navarro Serra, Soprano
Jordi Domenech Subirans, Countertenor
Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus

Production:
Carlos Matías Sanchez Garcia - Lighting Designer
Aitziber Sanz Pascual - Costume Design
David Cid Moragas - Video
Zamira Italica Pasceri - Stage Manager & Assistant Director
Josep M. Vilaregut - Technical Director
Marcel Riu Bonvehi - Fura dels Baus Tour Producer
Meritzell Vinas Sarda, General Manager
Chu Uroz – Costume and make up design
Full Animation – Video design
Produced by: IBERCAMERA

Please visit artpark.net for more information.

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The Earl W. Brydges Artpark is being operated by Artpark & Company, Inc. for the New York

State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation under a long-term collaborative agreement.