Join powerhouse Scottish conductor Sir Donald Runnicles and massed choral and instrumental players from Scotland and beyond to celebrate the joyful launch of the International Festival’s 2022 Usher Hall concerts – and an exuberant return to live, concert hall performances – with two of classical music’s most powerful, colourful showpieces.

As the Music Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Conductor Emeritus of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Runnicles is a major figure on international stages. He is also a former member of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, the International Festival’s flagship ensemble, which marks a jubilant return to full strength in a live concert for the first time since 2019.

Joined by three exceptional international vocal soloists and the National Girls Youth Choir of Scotland, they explore the hedonistic revelry, kaleidoscopic colours and roof-raising might of Orff’s Carmina Burana. From its spectacular opening ‘O Fortuna’, known to millions from countless TV shows and adverts, it’s a stirring celebration of the wonders of nature and the pleasures of earthly life.

In his dazzling Pines of Rome, Respighi provides a vivid musical portrait of the Eternal City; from the magical nocturnal song of a nightingale, to the sinister depths of its catacombs and the overwhelming might of Roman legions on the march.

Sung with English supertitles.

Supported by Geoff and Mary Ball