Organization

Chorus master

Robert Taylor

Conductor

Yuriy Bekker

Orchestra

Charleston Symphony Orchestra

Others

Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus

College of Charleston Concert Choir

Singer

Soprano

Elaine Alvarez

Ann Quintero

Alto

Tenor

Harold Meers

Bass

Steve Pence

Latin

Verdi´s Requiem

Charleston

United States

Charleston Gaillard Center

Verdi´s Requiem: Messa da Requiem Verdi

Public

Requiem Mass

Approved

Giuseppe Verdi completed his Requiem Mass as a tribute to his friend Alessandro Manzoni – a beloved Italian writer – and you’ll often hear his version called, “Manzoni” Requiem. It is a powerful statement to the esteem that Verdi, and indeed all of Italy, felt for Manzoni. Earlier in life, Verdi had experienced the tragic losses of two children and his first wife; he was no stranger to grief and mourning.

Prior to the 18th century, before it became popularized for secular concert performance, a Requiem, the Catholic mass for the dead, was a holy ritual accompanied by music. Over time, as the music became more complex, it transitioned to performances beyond the church and became a larger work for orchestra, chorus, and soloists. Various Requiem settings were composed by Mozart, Berlioz, Bruckner, Dvořák, and Verdi, among many others. Each composer put their own mark on their version, to be sure. Verdi’s Requiem stands out among the others for several reasons.

Verdi’s Requiem is filled with the drama you might expect from someone often referenced as the greatest Italian opera composer. Heart-pounding and heart-wrenching, elaborate, startling, and thrilling…all describe Verdi’s Requiem. It’s also appropriately somber and mournful at times, typical for any funeral mass, but it’s not all death and doom.

As an operatic genius, Verdi’s musical and vocal elements merge flawlessly for his Requiem resulting in masterful skill and taking the audience on an emotional rollercoaster through darkness and light. The second movement, the tumultuous and familiar Dies irae (Day of Wrath), is powerful and expressive, filled with pleas; a tender “Amen” which closes the epic movement is a pleasant respite. Verdi gave the heavy lifting to the vocal soloists, the double chorus, and the orchestra in equal measure for his Requiem and, as a result, it becomes the most moving of masterpieces. In fact, of Verdi’s Requiem, Johannes Brahms said, “Only a genius could have written such a work.”

English

Verdi´s Requiem by Verdi, From (2024/2024), Conductor Yuriy Bekker, Charleston Gaillard Center, Charleston, United States

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Program, About & Synopsis

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues