CARMINA BURANA
September 18, 2026 at 7:00 PM
CARMINA BURANA, the work that is performed somewhere in the world every 2 minutes, finds its way to the hearts of the Baia Mare audience, in a staging and interpretation worthy of its status as an emblem of the symphonic vocal repertoire.
The performance will offer music lovers the chance to hear tenor Ștefan von Korch in his "signature" role, having opened the Palermo Classica Festival in Italy and many national philharmonic seasons with Carmina Burana throughout his career. The audience will also enjoy the participation of members of the Symphony Orchestra of the Dinu Lipatti Philharmonic from Satu Mare and members of the Mixed Choir of the State Philharmonic Târgu Mureș.
From the devastating power of the famous "O Fortuna" to moments of lyricism, exuberance, and humor, the audience will be captivated by the unique tumult of this work, the complexity of the orchestral texture, the impetuosity of the choral interventions, and the fascinating solo lines that will narrate the stories Carl Orff found in a collection of medieval texts and transformed into the most famous symphonic vocal work in the world.
Tenor Ştefan von Korch, artistic coordinator of the Musical Extravaganza season and a soloist highly appreciated for his tenor line in Carmina Burana explains: “There are few compositions that have transcended the boundaries of classical music and become part of the universal musical heritage. «Carmina Burana» by Carl Orff is one of them – a symbolic work, instantly recognizable, whose sonic imprint – «O Fortuna» - has an unmistakable resonance that goes beyond concert halls, bringing to life manifestations in cinematic, theatrical, or choreographic art and many others. The chance to hear it live on stage, in its full embodiment and artistic complexity, is a transformative experience for any spectator and a test of mastery for artists.”
With a fascinating circular structure – symbolizing the relentless force of destiny itself, Carmina Burana musically embodies in 24 tableaux the tumult of life, desire, joy, the rebirth of nature, and the call of carnal pleasures, being thematically as relevant today as it was on the premiere day of the performance, which took place in 1937, and proof of its extraordinary power to fascinate entire generations of listeners is the very fact that every two minutes, somewhere, a new interpretation of this masterpiece begins, which you are invited to discover in this event concert.
The audience will enjoy in this event the special performance of tenor Ştefan von Korch, a soloist who began his musical training at the Art High School in Oradea, continued at the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Cluj Napoca, and is currently appreciated on national and international lyrical stages for his tenor line in Carmina Burana and for opera roles. For his performance of the score specific to his voice in Carmina Burana, he was praised at the opening of the Palermo Classica festival and applauded over 40 times on the stages of Romanian philharmonics. Even this autumn, he will open the seasons of the Satu Mare and Târgu Mureş Philharmonics, in this work, a reference for his career.
The concert is part of a series through which tenor Ştefan von Korch invites the audience from Bucharest and the country to discover or rediscover the masterful "Carmina Burana."
The performances of the work Carmina Burana in the Musical Extravaganza season are scheduled as follows:
September 18 – Baia Mare – ATP Tech Center
December 9 – Cluj Napoca – Students' Cultural Center
February 18 – Pitești – Trade Union Cultural Center – tickets soon
February 21 – Bucharest – Palace Hall
March 20 Bacău – Radu Beligan Summer Theater
February 28 – Constanţa – Trade Union Cultural Center.
May 15 – Oradea – Trade Union Cultural Center
About ** Ştefan von Korch – Tenor, Host Soloist Musical Extravaganza**
Ştefan von Korch, applauded for his tenor line in Carmina Burana as well as for his roles in "I Puritani," "The Barber of Seville," "Rigoletto," "The Elixir of Love," or "Falstaff," delights audiences monthly as host soloist and artistic coordinator of the Musical Extravaganza season, a pioneering cultural project carried out in the capital, with extensions on the stages in Brașov, Pitești, Sibiu, Craiova, and Târgu Mureș.
With a dynamic presence in national and international cultural life, Ştefan von Korch will open this autumn the seasons of the Philharmonic Orchestras in Satu Mare and Târgu Mureș in his signature work, "Carmina Burana," and will return to the stage of the Bucharest National Theatre in the concert "Duel of the Tenors." Since the beginning of the year, he has already performed on the stage of the Bucharest National Theatre, at the Brașov Philharmonic, Sibiu, Târgu Mureș, Arad, and on the stage of the Iași National Opera in "The Merry Widow 2.0," directed by Andrei Șerban.
In 2025 he was the only Romanian soloist in the highly traditional concerts "Los Tres Tenores" in Central America, alongside soloists from Spain and Honduras, he debuted at the Romanian Athenaeum in "Concert at the Imperial Court," he opened the Arad Philharmonic season with "Carmina Burana," his "signature" work, with which he also started the year on the stage of the Transilvania State Philharmonic.
He is the unmistakable voice for the tenor line in Carmina Burana – a passage at the limit of male vocal capabilities, which he navigates with overflowing ease. Thanks to his interpretation of this work, he has been invited to over 40 performances of Carmina Burana, in Philharmonic and cultural institutions across the country, as well as abroad, and in 2024 he had the honor of opening the Palermo Classica Festival with this work, with an acclaimed appearance in both the peninsula's and Romania's press.
His name is also linked to over 15 shows at the Bucharest National Opera, where over time he was invited in "The Barber of Seville," "The Elixir of Love," and "Falstaff," but also to the national premiere of the opera "I Puritani" by Vicenzo Bellini, one of the highest scores written for the male voice.
He ended 2024 with notable appearances at the Ion Dacian National Operetta and Musical Theatre, at Sala Palatului, and at the Philharmonic Orchestras of Târgu-Mureş and Timişoara.
In 2023, he was the only Romanian soloist in the China Tour 2023, alongside the Reino de Aragon Orchestra from Spain.
He delighted the audience with his voice in 3 national premieres: "I Puritani" and "La Sonnambula," both by Vicenzo Bellini, the vocal-symphonic work "Messa di Gloria" by Rossini, but also in the European premiere "Traiano in Dacia."
În decursul vremii a interpret al rolurile specifice vocii lui din foarte cunoscutele opere: "Rigoletto", "Bărbierul din Sevilla", "Elixirul Dragostei", "Don Pasquale", pe scenele Operelor din Bucureşti, Cluj şi Iaşi şi este o prezenţă constantă pe scenele filarmonicilor naţionale, "Requiemul" de Mozart, „Oratoriul de Crăciun" de Bach şi „Longesangt" de Mendelssohn.
Pe plan internaţional a concertat la Metropolitan Concert Hall Tokyo, Zhuhai Opera House, Nanjing Poly Grand Theatre şi Chongqing Grand Theatre, Opera Kaiserslautern Germania, Auditoriumul din Zaragoza, Palatul Steri din Palermo, Teatro Verdi Padua Italia, Sala de concerte a Academiei de Muzica Zurich, Teatrul National Bratislava.
Despre stagiunea Musical Extravaganza
Over time, he has interpreted roles specific to his voice from very well-known operas: "Rigoletto", "The Barber of Seville", "The Elixir of Love", "Don Pasquale", on the stages of the Operas in Bucharest, Cluj and Iași, and is a constant presence on the stages of national philharmonics, Mozart's "Requiem", Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" and Mendelssohn's "Longesangt".
Internationally, he has performed at the Metropolitan Concert Hall Tokyo, Zhuhai Opera House, Nanjing Poly Grand Theatre and Chongqing Grand Theatre, Opera Kaiserslautern Germany, Auditorium of Zaragoza, Steri Palace in Palermo, Teatro Verdi Padua Italy, Concert Hall of the Zurich Academy of Music, National Theatre Bratislava.
About the season Musical Extravaganza
Chamber concerts aim to offer the public the joy of meeting representative names of the lyrical scene, in a more intimate setting, which offers a different perspective on the artistic act compared to that on the imposing opera stage, but also to bring the classical genre closer to audiences of all ages. Spectators are invited to admire their favorite soloists in a select atmosphere, complemented by chamber accompaniment, which highlights the performers in a warm and personal light.
The first two seasons of Musical Extravaganza, conducted under the artistic guidance of tenor Ştefan von Korch, included over 20 successful concerts, in which they delighted the audience, together with the host soloist: sopranos Oana Maria Şerban, Cristina Maria Oltean, Daniela Bucşan, tenors George Vîrban, Mihai Urzicana, Andrei Mihalcea, Alin Stoica, baritones Adrian Mărcan and Fang Shuang, pianist Alexandru Burcă, accordionist Emy Drăgoi, pianist Bogdana Cocîrlea, pianist Marius Groza and the Orchestra of the National Theatre of Operetta and Musical Ion Dacian – in salon formation and the Piteşti Philharmonic Orchestra – the most avant-garde in the country.
Starting with the 2026 / 2027 season, the Musical Extravaganza season will also bring complete works to the public – the first of which will be the cantata "Carmina Burana", followed by Giuseppe Verdi's Messa da Requiem.
