electrify

Sunday, March 12, 2006 at 7 pm
Tuesday, March 14, 2006 at 7:30 pm

Get ready for an emotional workout. The Verdi Requiem is tumultuous, tortured, terrifying, spectacularly theatrical and possibly the best opera Verdi ever wrote. What else would you expect from the genius who composed Aida and Otello?

Grant Gershon and the Chorale bring passion, rage, anguish, judgment and hope for deliverance to Disney Hall with orchestra, massed chorus and guest soloists. Written in memory of the great Italian novelist Alessandro Manzoni, the world premiere of the Verdi Requiem took place in Milan in 1874 with the composer himself conducting.

Don’t be lulled by the hushed beginning or the “Kyrie’s” formal plea for mercy. Four violent chords in the orchestra signal Verdi’s shift into high gear. Fasten your seat belt, the Day of Judgment is at hand. Trumpets blaring, the thunderous “Dies Irae” (Day of Wrath) plunges us into the emotional heart of the piece.

Not a true believer, Verdi scales the heights, plumbs the depths and meets God on his own terms. Profoundly human, his heaven-shaking Requiem bares every emotion. The composer creates dramatic contrasts and tosses off complex orchestral and choral textures, including a joyous “Sanctus” eight-part double fugue. Peace arrives with “Agnus Dei” (Lamb of God). Then — tranquility shatters with the “Libera Me” searing cry — “Free me, Lord, from eternal death...when you come to judge the world by fire.” The air feels charged with electricity and operatic heat. Viva Verdi!

Download a guide to the season: chorale-seasonguide0506.pdf, 1.1MB