Le Cercle de l’Harmonie

Between the foot of the cross and the lights of the stage, Verdi’s Requiem celebrates in a unique manner the flamboyant marriage of liturgy and lyric drama, to the point of constituting, as is often said, "Verdi’s most beautiful opera".

It was for the funeral of Manzoni, "Italy’s Victor Hugo" and author of Fiancés, that Verdi premiered his Requiem in Milan on 22 May 1874. What happens when a genius of lyric theatre takes on a mass for the dead? The result is an irresistible chemistry: powerful, tragic, replete with effects and contrasts, the work uses every known resource to seduce and impress. While it scrupulously follows the Catholic liturgy, the score has all the drama of his other masterpieces such as Aïda or Nabucco. The listener is stunned, between the splendour of the aria Libera me (for soprano), the poignant anguish of the Turba mirum, the earthly power of the Dies Irae, the seraphic light of the Sanctus…Quickly breaking out of the Church, the Requiem would be a triumph at La Scala in Milan before imposing itself onto Paris, then onto the entire world.

Musical director Jérémie Rhorer
Le Cercle de l’Harmonie
Audi Jugendchorakademie 
Chœur de l’Opéra de Dijon

Soprano Axelle Fanyo
Mezzo Agnieszka Rehlis 
Tenor Ivan Magri
Bass Alexander Tsymbalyuk

^{Photo © Caroline Doutre}

Giuseppe Verdi
Requiem