Verdi: Requiem

Verdi's Requiem is generally referred to as his »best opera«. Yet strictly speaking, this full-length score for the requiem mass doesn't belong in the concert hall, but in church. But Verdi's thunderous and emotional music and the gigantic choral and orchestral forces required to perform it go well beyond the confines of a liturgical setting.

Vividly and with great intensity of feeling, the composer depicts the dramatic events of the Apocalypse, people's trust in God and plea for eternal peace for the dead. At one moment, the trumpets of the Last Judgment sound from every corner of the concert hall, then the next, the chorus whispers its entreaty for redemption. This is not an exercise in religious restraint. But where else are the components of faith more tangible than they are here? With the Verdi Requiem, Alan Gilbert, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the combined radio choirs of Berlin and Hamburg and a choice line-up of singers made the Elbphilharmonie tremble in autumn 2019.

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
Rundfunkchor Berlin
NDR Chor

Angela Meade soprano
Daniela Barcellona mezzo-soprano
René Barbera tenor
Riccardo Zanellato bass

conductor Alan Gilbert

Giuseppe Verdi
Messa da Requiem