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If classical music had a “rock opera,” it would almost certainly be Carmina Burana. Unpretentious and endlessly entertaining, this rollicking choral tour de force is based on a set of 24 poems written back in the 13th Century by the “Goliards,” a group of defrocked monks and vagabond students. The lyrics reflect their lusty lifestyles, with odes to fate and fortune, biting satires of religious themes, and nods to gluttony, carnal pleasures, and the joys of the tavern. When the composer Carl Orff discovered the collection, he set about composing music to match its exuberant character. It might be the only composition that would have both Pete Townshend and Giacomo Puccini tapping their feet!