Orff's Carmina Burana

Bassem Akiki conducts Pärt and Wagner

The Polish-Lebanese conductor Bassem Akiki made a great impression last year with his Animal Farm at the Dutch National Opera. Now a guest of the Netherlands Philharmonic and the Groot Omroepkoor, he opens the concert with two distinctly contemplative pieces. The Credo was Pärt's very first religious work, grand and experimental with a hint of Bach as a contrast. Wagner's last opera Parsifal is a religious drama about guilt, penance and forgiveness, themes that you hear again in the overture.

Orff's Carmina Burana

Furthermore, the program is dedicated to one of the most famous pieces of the 20th century. A medieval manuscript full of poetry, songs and verses was the basis for Carl Orff's world-famous Carmina Burana . The result is a theatrical and breathtaking spectacle with as its central theme the fate with which man must try to live. The overwhelming opening chorus 'O Fortuna' has become a true hit that has even penetrated pop music.