The Hallé – Verdi’s Requiem

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.’