Program Verdi’s epic Requiem Mass, a work considered by some to be his greatest masterpiece, had an extraordinary gestation.
Verdi was initially asked to contribute a single movement to a Requiem Mass in memory of fellow Italian composer Gioachino Rossini. However, the planned performance of this new work was eventually abandoned.
Years later in 1873, when Alessandro Manzoni died, Verdi decided that he would not make the same mistake and would compose an entire Requiem Mass on his own. He took the Libera Me that he had already written, and reworked it to become part of a new Requiem Mass.
Verdi’s Requiem Mass follows to some degree the traditional sequence of the Latin requiem mass but was modified by Verdi in a way which he considered to be more dramatic.
The result was a work described by critic Hans von Bulow as an “opera, in church vestments.” Composed at a time when many considered that Verdi would soon retire, Verdi’s Requiem Mass confirmed Verdi’s place as one of Italy’s greatest composers. After the first performance, one critic wrote that, “To follow the movement one by one would be quite impossible; but we will say, nevertheless, that all were applauded with rapture.”
On Sunday 3 September at The Concourse, the Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra will combine forces with the Willoughby Choir to bring you the extraordinary experience of Verdi’s Requiem Mass. Filled with drama and extraordinary lyricism, hearing the Requiem live in performance is an experience that you will not want to miss.
PROGRAM
VERDI Requiem
Featuring
CONDUCTOR: Paul Terracini
SOPRANO: Imogen-Faith Malfitano
MEZZO-SOPRANO: Celeste Haworth
TENOR: Simon Kim
BASS: Richard Anderson
Willoughby Symphony Choir