About this event:
Hear one of the great masterpieces of Western music and a core piece of the choral repertoire, whose power to move and shake remains undiminished.
Despite being initially attacked as ‘an opera in church clothing’ and dividing the critics, Verdi’s Requiem quickly established its place on the concert platform. From the hushed opening, to the terrifying cries of the Dies Irae, to the final prayer for deliverance, Verdi put a lifetime of artistic experience to the service of what he wanted to say.
He had seen the formative events of the creation of modern Italy first hand and his music had come to symbolise and inspire Italian nationalism. So for him, the Requiem was a human drama as much as a religious one – except that here the protagonists are not stage characters battling each other or fate, but real people – the performers themselves, soloists, chorus and orchestra – responding to the ‘four last things’ of Catholic teaching: death, judgement, heaven and hell.
The result is one of the great masterpieces of Western music and a core piece in the choral repertoire, whose power to move and shake remains undiminished more than 150 years from its first performance.
Performers
Philharmonia Orchestra
Ivor Setterfield Conductor
to be announced soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass
Barts Choir
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