Conductor Emeritus Sir Donald Runnicles joins the orchestra for the opening of this year’s Edinburgh International Festival with two of classical music’s most powerful, colourful showpieces. Joining us are three exceptional international vocal soloists and the National Girls Youth Choir of Scotland. The evening will explore the hedonistic revelry, kaleidoscopic colours and roof-raising might of Orff’s Carmina Burana. 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.