Verdi’s spectacular Requiem at the Concourse
Image: KPO - Dec 2022 by Stephen Reinhardt
This Sunday afternoon settle into the glorious auditorium of the Concourse Concert Hall for a moving, thrilling performance of Verdi’s Requiem Mass by the Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra.
“[It’s] an experience that no-one should miss,” says artistic director and conductor, Paul Terracini. Many critics agree.
Verdi is known as one of the greatest exponents of opera, with much of his opus comprising the permanent repertoire of opera companies around the world. This requiem has the qualities of a Verdi opera — richly melodic, grand, deeply emotional — so much so that it is more frequently performed as a concert than as part of a religious service.
The work evolved around a single movement, the “Libera Me”, which was Verdi’s contribution to a collaboration with 12 other composers on a requiem for fellow composer Gioachino Rossini. Due to artistic politics and “he said, he said” the work was never performed.
When famous Italian writer, Alessandro Manzoni dies, Verdi, who greatly admired the writer, wrote an entire requiem mass which included the hitherto abandoned “Libera Me”. The requiem was even known as the Manzoni Requiem for a period of time.
It debuted in church of San Marco in Milan on the one year anniversary of Manzoni’s death, then had its first secular performance a mere three days later in the famous La Scala Opera Theatre. Both performances were conducted by Verdi himself.
This presentation of Verdi’s Requiem will feature soloists: Imogen-Faith Malfitano, soprano; Kyla Allan, mezzo-soprano; Simon Kim, tenor;
Richard Anderson, bass; and the Willoughby Symphony Choir.
