Overview
Carl Orff's joyous Carmina Burana bursts forth like a boisterous street festival — filled with music, mayhem, and merriment. This modern-day Canterbury Tales comes complete with lusty hymns to springtime, animated drinking songs, and a swan's anguishingly ironic farewell to life (on a barbecue spit!). The program opens with a reconstructed concerto for oboe d'amore by Johann Sebastian Bach, with the Orchestra's solo english horn player, Robert Walters, as soloist.
PLEASE NOTE: With deep regret and on the advice of his physician, Franz Welser-Möst is unable to travel to Cleveland for these concerts, April 11-14, in order to continue ongoing physical therapy for severe back pain. James Feddeck will conduct these performances; the musical program is unchanged.
POP CULTURE NOTE: You may not recognize the title of Carmina Burana, but you know this music. Its opening “O Fortuna” is well known through countless quotations in sports commercials — and now rallies basketball fans for the Cleveland Cavaliers at the opening of every home game.
At a Glance
BACH - Concerto in A major (for oboe d'amore), BWV1055
ORFF - Carmina Burana

This concert is sponsored by KeyBank,
a Cleveland Orchestra Partner in Excellence.
Rebecca Nelson's appearance
with The Cleveland Orchestra is made possible
by a gift to the Orchestra's Guest Artist Fund
from the Margaret R. Griffiths Trust.
Pre-Concert Talk
Free Concert Preview:
"From Medieval Manuscript to 20th-Century Cantata:
The Story of Carmina Burana"
with David J. Rothenberg,
associate profressor of musicology,
Case Western Reserve University
Location:
Concert Hall at Severance Hall
Concert Previews are free to all ticketholders. Previews are held prior to every Cleveland Orchestra subscription concert, beginning 1 hour before the performance. This series is funded by a generous endowment gift from Dorothy Humel Hovorka.
Parking
A variety of parking options are available for concerts at Severance Hall, including guaranteed pre-paid parking passes (purchased through the Ticket Office or via this website).
CAMPUS CENTER GARAGE
The Case Western Reserve University Campus Center Garage is located directly adjacent to Severance Hall (parking entrance is off East Boulevard), with stair and elevator access to Severance Hall. Event parking in the Campus Center Garage can be purchased for $10 per vehicle when space permits. However, the garage often fills up well before concert time and only patrons who purchase pre-paid parking passes are ensured a parking space.
Pre-Paid Parking for the Campus Center Garage can be purchased in advance for $14 per concert by calling the Ticket Office or through this website. Pre-paid parking guarantees you a space, but availability of pre-paid parking passes is limited.
HOW TO BUY PARKING
If you are purchasing your tickets via this website, there is an opportunity after you have put seats into the checkout cart when you can select the “Find Parking” button.
Alternatively, if you have already purchased tickets, you can purchase pre-paid parking online through the concert Event Calendar. Above the calendar, check the box “for ticket holders who wish to purchase tickets only” under Select a Type of Event. The calendar will then show available parking.
Parking can also be purchased through the Ticket Office by calling 216-231-1111.
Limited additional event parking is available in the Case Western Reserve University Lot 1 off Euclid Avenue across from Severance Hall, or at the University Circle Lot 13A on Adelbert Road, and at the Cleveland Botanical Garden parking garage on East Boulevard. Space at these lots may be particularly limited during weekday daytime hours. Some on-street parking is also available, but often fills up well before curtain time.
PARKING MAP
For a printable map of parking areas surrounding Severance Hall,
click here.
Severance Restaurant
Severance Restaurant at Severance Hall features contemporary American cuisine in an elegant setting and is perfect for a quick bite or leisurely dinner before the concert.
The restaurant, operated by Cleveland’s own Sammy’s, is located on the street level of Severance Hall along East Boulevard. A pre-concert dinner buffet begins up to three hours before each Cleveland Orchestra evening concert.
Reservations are advised.
For dinner reservations,
please call 216-231-7373 anytime or reserve online.
MENU
View a sample pre-concert evening buffet menu.
Program Book

Commentary and historical background about the music are printed in program books distributed free-of-charge at most Cleveland Orchestra concerts. The program notes are usually available on-line ahead of time.
Follow this link to read the Week 18 program book for this concert.
Program books for most past concerts of the current season
can be viewed at the Program Book section of this website.