Last night was Portsmouth Pro Musica‘s first of two performances of Carl Orff’s masterpiece Carmina Burana. We sang it at Marshwood High School in South Berwick, Me. Before I get to my thoughts, I invite you to check out this hilarious YouTube spoof of the first (and last) movement, “O Fortuna,” titled “Misheard Lyrics: Oh Four Tuna”:
One of my fellow choristers emailed this to the rest of us just hours before last night’s performance. I watched it just before heading out the door, and I was in stitches. In the text of his email he advised us to watch our diction. Evidently his message stuck—or perhaps it was Priscilla French’s feedback during our warm-up—because the feedback I received after the concert was nothing short of glowing.
I had invited various circles of friends to attend either last night’s or tonight’s performance, and almost to a (wo)man they came up to me afterwards raving about how much they enjoyed the performance. More than one of them commented about how clear our pronunciation was. Of course, it helps to have a program with the lyrics and their translations printed in it. Still, the sincerity of their praise came through loud and clear.
It is not too late to hear us! Our second and final performance is tonight at Portsmouth High School, Portsmouth, N.H. Tickets are still available, although all five of the locations selling them around town were sold out. If you’d like to get the early price ($12.50, $10 senior/student), just give me a call. (I’m assuming my friends know how to reach me.) But hurry. And if you don’t reach me in time, just come and get tickets at the door. They’re still dirt cheap ($15, $12.50 senior/student) for what you’re getting.
