Music
The Hallé – Verdi’s Requiem at The Bridgewater Hall
The Hallé – Verdi’s Requiem
The Bridgewater Hall
27th October 2022
Prices from £15.50 to £46.00
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Verdi – Messa da Requiem
Conductor
Sir Mark Elder
Featuring:
Natalya Romaniw, soprano
Alice Coote, mezzo-soprano
Thomas Atkins, tenor
James Platt, bass
Choir:
Hallé Choir, choral director Matthew Hamilton
Verdi is totally in Sir Mark’s blood; he’s conducted his music more than any other composer and has loved the Requiem since childhood. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, writer and humanist, whom Verdi admired and hoped to emulate through his music what Manzoni had achieved for Italian literature. The Requiem was initially controversial because of Verdi’s overt operatic approach to a sacred text, as he responded to every nuance of the words; for instance, in the spine-chilling ‘Dies irae,’ the limpid beauty of the ‘Lacrimosa,’ and the thrilling double-fugue of the ‘Sanctus.’ It’s a technically demanding tour de force, but together with the superb Hallé Choir, Sir Mark has assembled a stellar line up of soloists familiar to Hallé audiences, to perform what he describes as ‘this so powerful, deeply felt work.’