Carmina Burana - Carl Orff in Venedig

In Carmina Burana - Carl Orff in Venedig, Fabrizio Guttuso Alaimo stages a single, spellbinding night in Venice that captures a live outdoor performance at a city landmark. The Choir and Orchestra of the La Fenice Theatre fill Piazza San Marco with bold, rhythmic sound, the basilica looming as a dramatic backdrop. Conductor Fabio Luisi guides Carl Orff’s cantata Carmina Burana, drawn from twenty four medieval poems crafted in the 1930s, and the film follows the arrival of the performers and the behind the scenes work that keeps a gigantic concert running smoothly. Soloists Michael Schade, Regula Mühlemann, and Markus Werba appear, bringing lyrical warmth and flamboyant stage presence to the square. The camera lingers on the scale of the production, the sweat and precision of the players, and the moment when audience and city seem to breathe together.

Directed by Fabrizio Guttuso Alaimo and released in 2022, the film documents the La Fenice Theatre Choir and Orchestra delivering Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, a cantata built from 24 medieval poems written in the 1930s.

Box office data for this concert film is not publicly disclosed, and it appears mainly aimed at classical music audiences rather than a wide release.

Outside the concert hall it becomes a study in scale and sound, with Venice's historic space shaping the rhythm and mood. The film foregrounds the dialogue between medieval text and modern orchestral color, inviting viewers to hear a familiar work through live spectacle.