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Our Next Concert:
Verdi Requiem
Saturday, June 2, 2012
8:00pm
Our Lady of Hope Church
Ipswich, MA
The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist much admired by Verdi. It was first performed at the church of San Marco in Milan on May 22, 1874 – the first anniversary of Manzoni’s death and was at one time called the Manzoni Requiem.
From Wikipedia: “Throughout the work, Verdi uses vigorous rhythms, sublime melodies, and dramatic contrasts—much as he did in his operas—to express the powerful emotions engendered by the text. The terrifying (and instantly recognizable) Dies irae that introduces the traditional sequence of the Latin funeral rite is repeated throughout for a sense of unity, which allows Verdi to explore the feelings of loss and sorrow as well as the human desire for forgiveness and mercy found in the intervening movements of the Requiem. Trumpets surround the stage to produce an inescapable call to judgement in the Tuba mirum (the resulting combination of brass and choral quadruple-fortissimo markings resulting in some of the loudest unamplified music ever written), and the almost oppressive atmosphere of the Rex tremendae creates a sense of unworthiness before the King of Tremendous Majesty. Yet the well-known tenor solo Ingemisco radiates hope for the sinner who asks for the Lord’s mercy. Verdi also recycles and reworks the duet Qui me rendra ce mort? Ô funèbres abîmes!, from Act IV of Don Carlos, in the beautiful Lacrimosa which ends this sequence.
The joyful Sanctus (a complicated eight-part fugue scored for double chorus) begins with a brassy fanfare to announce him “who comes in the name of the Lord” and leads into an angelic Agnus Dei sung by the female soloists with the chorus. Finally the Libera me, the oldest music by Verdi in the Requiem, interrupts. Here the soprano cries out, begging, “Deliver me, Lord, from eternal death … when you will come to judge the world by fire.”
This concert is supported in part by a grant from the Ipswich Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
