Giuseppe Verdi – Requiem
VENUE: All Hallows Church, Savernake Road, NW3 2JP
SOPRANO Anita Watson
MEZZO SOPRANO Samantha Price
TENOR Frederick Jones
BARITONE Stephen Gadd
CONDUCTOR: Ronald Corp
ORCHESTRA: New London Orchestra
Verdi’s Requiem is a setting of the Catholic funeral mass in seven movements scored for double choir, solo quartet and large orchestra. It was composed in honour of the memory of the Italian poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni, who was greatly admired by Verdi and who, like Verdi, was a leader in the Risorgimento, the cultural and political movement for Italian independence and unification. The first performance, conducted by Verdi himself, was given in the church of San Marco in Milan on the first anniversary of Manzoni’s death, 22 May 1874, and received immediate acclaim. A second performance, also conducted by Verdi, followed three days later at La Scala in Milan.
Today, Verdi’s Requiem is the most performed major choral work in the repertoire – a choral tour de force fitting for HCS and its supporters to celebrate a long-anticipated return to live performance.