Brahms: A German Requiem
Orfeó Català / Balthasar Neumann Choir and Orchestra / Thomas Hengelbrock
Human through and through
Only a few works of music give such moving expression to our human struggle with mortality, between hope and despair, light and darkness, as Brahms’s »German Requiem«. Setting an individual selection of passages from the Bible to music, the composer – a native of Hamburg – created a thoroughly personal promise of solace, which he said he would have preferred to call »human« rather than »German«.
The big solo parts and particularly the deeply moving choral passages seem tailor-made for Thomas Hengelbrock and his Balthasar Neumann ensembles, who have been touching their audience for many years with vivid performances of major choral and orchestral works. For their concert at the Laeiszhalle (on Hamburg’s Johannes-Brahms-Platz!), Hengelbrock has invited a very special choir for additional support. The Catalonian choir Orfeó Català is an ensemble with a rich tradition and one »unique selling point«: one of Europe’s loveliest and most unusual music temples, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, was built especially for it.
Performers
Balthasar-Neumann-Chor und -Orchester
Orfeó Català
Eleanor Lyons soprano
Domen Križaj baritone
conductor Thomas Hengelbrock
Programme
Johannes Brahms
A German Requiem, Op. 45