Series O and R – Myung-Whun Chung and the Orchester de la Suisse Romande present Verdi’s “Requiem” accompanied by the Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. A grandiose lyrical evening in perspective!

Myung-Whun Chung direction
Zarina Abaeva soprano
Ekaterina Semenchuk mezzo-soprano
René Barbera tenor
Dmitry Belosselskiy bass

Giuseppe Verdi
Requiem Messa

Married by the abbot, and future cardinal, Charles Mermillod in the modest church of Collonges-sous-Salève in 1859 on the outskirts of Geneva, Giuseppe Verdi was nonetheless incredulous to the great regret of his wife, the singer Giuseppina Strepponi. Religion is of course present in several of his operas, but it was the death of Rossini which would trigger the creative process of his Requiem created as a double homage to the late composer and the poet Alessandro Manzoni, the immortal author of I Promessi Sposi (Married persons). Much has been said about the theatrical and spectacular aspect of the work evoking the drama of man facing death. Freed from any libretto to respect, Verdi lets himself go in this splendid work where his musical imagination ignites. His perfect knowledge of the human voice is put to the service of an intense and sincere expression in all its purity. The ensembles and the writing for the choir are particularly careful. Both grandiose and intimate, Verdi's Requiem is above all steeped in humanity.