As sacred oratorios play out and endure in the hearts of performers and audiences, few in the classical cannon compare with Verdi’s Requiem, presented this Saturday by the National Philharmonic Chorale in the Music Center at Strathmore. “The Requiem is one of the great masterworks of all time,” said Stan Engebretson, chorale artistic conductor. For me, it’s definitely a piece that stands with “Messiah,” Bach’s B Minor Mass and Beethoven’s ninth, the “Missa Solemnis.” It’s that crowning achievement in the choral world.”
In addition to the 150-voice, double choir, Verdi’s Requiem calls upon the full orchestra, the antiphonal brass of trumpets playing in various spots from the balcony, and finally, the solo talents of soprano Arianna Zuckerman, mezzo-soprano Patricia Miller, tenor Don Bernardini and bass soloist Kevin Deas.
| Onstage |
| Verdi’s Requiem |
| Where: The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda |
| When: 8 p.m. Saturday |
| Info: $32 to $79, ages 7 to 17 free , 301-581-5100, nationalphilharmonic.org |
“Many people call it Verdi’s greatest ‘opera,’ in that he uses of his operatic sense. All his skills from writing opera he applied to this Requiem,” Engebretson continued. “It meant so much to him since he was dedicating it to the memory of a great friend.”
Verdi composed his brilliant, highly theatrical Requiem in 1874 in memory of his close friend; the poet and novelist, Alessandro Manzoni, whose work, “I Promessi Sposi” (“The Betrothed”) became an anthem in the unification of Italy. Verdi thought of his Requiem as a patriotic act in celebration of the Italian republic. And he, himself, conducted the first performance in San Marco, Milan, on the first anniversary of Manzoni’s death.
The piece, while appearing as a concert version of an opera, takes its text from the Roman Catholic Requiem (funeral) Mass and then turns up the volume.
“It’s a wonderful theatric experience; you will feel all of the passion and the drama that Verdi can use to move you,” Engebretson further noted. “There’s a tremendous force in the Dies irae, which depicts the last day [of the world] with the multiple brass going off onstage and later on when the antiphonal trumpets start playing, calling in the herald forces of the world and the Rex tremendae, the Mighty King says the choir after that — you really feel that you’re seeing a live concert version of an opera. It’s just so dramatic … so beautiful.”
