The Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra hits hard for its return. Its musical director, Aziz Shokhakimov, has chosen one of the greatest masterpieces of sacred music, which combines liturgy and opera.
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Only one date for an exceptional concert: this Friday, September 9th. Classical music fans may be frustrated. Especially since Aziz Shokhakimov has set the bar very high by bringing together on the stage of the Palais de la Musique et des Congrès: the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, two major choral groups and four renowned soloists.
the Requiem by Verdi is originally a mass that pays homage to a close friend of Giuseppe Verdi, the poet Alessandro Manzoni. “He described a religious text with the description of human passions. That’s why this requiem is special because it speaks of the soul. But there is also flesh, passions. It is a terrestrial requiem”, explains Alessandro Zuppardo, choirmaster at the Opéra National du Rhin.
The work was performed for the first time in 1874 in a church in Milan, under the direction of Verdi. Welcomed with enthusiasm, the opera seized it. It was taken up first at La Scala, then in Paris, at the Opéra-Comique, then in London and Vienna.
From a musical point of view, the Requiem by Verdi is a powerful work with sound furies that tell of the expression of terror in the face of death. “In this music, there are so many dramatic moments and apocalyptic resonances. When you listen to this Dies irea, you can hear, through the instruments, the meteorites arriving in your ears and that disasters are occurring” , deciphers Aziz Shokhakimov, the young musical director of the Orchester philharmonique de Strasbourg.
Very popular, the Requiem by Verdi is a work regularly taken up by the greatest musical groups.
“Requiem” by Verdi, September 9, 2022 at 8 p.m., Palais de la Musique et des Congrès in Strasbourg, delayed broadcast on October 2, 2022 at 9 p.m. on Classical Radio.