After last year's enthusiastically received performance, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the conducting legend, returns to the festival to conduct the final concert, during which we will hear one of the greatest oratorio works in history - Giuseppe Verdi's Messa da Requiem . Maestro will perform with his fantastic ensembles Monteverdi Choir and Orchester Révolutionnaire et Romantique.
In Requiem from 1874 we admire all of Verdi's dramatic and psychological genius, unconstrained by the conventions of opera. The author of thirty stage works was an expert in building musical tension and causing tears of emotion in the audience, but his funeral mass is not just another sweeping piece that instantly became a hit. It is a testimony to the authentic experiences of a great composer mourning the loss of a friend and a very personal reflection on the finiteness of life. The work, full of operatic drama, breathtaking choral parts, the powerful sound of the orchestra and brilliant arias of the soloists, was first performed on the anniversary of the death of the writer Alessandro Manzoni, mourned by the entire Italian nation. The most famous and poignant fragment of the masterpiece isDies irae - description of the "day of wrath", i.e. the last judgment. It falls on the listener like a thunderbolt from the clear sky. Melodic motifs from this dominant movement appear at the most important moments throughout the mass. Lacrimosa sounds like a genuine sob, the angelic Lux aeterna raises the spirits and gives hope of eternal life (although the playing of the orchestra accompanying the soloists at first brings to mind a funeral procession). The work ends on an optimistic note: the soprano sings the silent prayer Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna("Save me, Lord, from eternal death.") It is the soloists who convey the great emotional load of the text of the work, while the orchestra is responsible for the dramatic effects obtained, among others, by thanks to the presence of four additional trumpeters reminiscent of the trumpets of the Apocalypse.
Such an emotionally intense work is an ideal repertoire for the Orchester Révolutionnaire et Romantique, praised for its great expressiveness and stylistic fidelity to the aesthetics of the era. The ensemble was founded by Gardiner thirty years ago to look at the repertoire of the 19th and 20th centuries with the curiosity and respect proper to performers of early music. Monteverdi Choir, on the other hand, has been accompanying Gardiner since the beginning of his career, i.e. from the 1960s, which were groundbreaking for historical performance, and is indisputably considered one of the best choirs in the world. Both teams operate under the patronage of the Prince of Wales.
The majestic Requiem by Verdi, beloved by the audience, masterfully performed by Gardiner and his bands, is like a music lover's dream come true. The finale of this year's edition, in line with the best traditions of the Wratislavia Cantans festival, will not leave anyone indifferent.
