The Verdi Project: Messa di Requiem

Verdi takes on the cosmos and the Church.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

It could be argued that the Verdi Requiem is his most...monumental achievement.
Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Following the triumphant reception of Aida,, Giuseppe Verdi had no more worlds to conquer. Aida marked the culmination of a long ambition to create a successful fusion between his own style and the grand spectacles that dominated the stage at theaters like the Paris Opera. Aida, with its blend of private anguish and public spectacle, fulfilled all of those requirements.

Concert Review: The Power and the Glory

The New York Philharmonic presents Verdi's Requiem.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Alan Gilbert. Photo by Chris Lee © 2015 The New York Philharmonic.

Ever since its premiere in 1874, Giuseppe Verdi's setting of the Latin Mass for the Dead has been the subject of controversy and debate. Premiered in a church but planned for the concert hall, this work fuses Catholic liturgy with the awesome power of Verdi's dramatic music, creating a jet-fueled version of this very solemn text. On Friday night, New York Philharmonic music director Alan Gilbert led a starry cast of soloists in his first New York performances of this enormoys work, the second of three scheduled this week.

Concert Review: Judgment on Newark

The NJSO takes on the Verdi Requiem.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Hanging in the balance: conductor Jacques Lacombe.
Photo by Philippe Champoux for Colbert Artists.

Great things can happen in Newark.

On Thursday afternoon, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Montclair State University Chorale tested that maxim with an ambitious program: playing the Verdi Requiem at a matinee audience mainly comprised of senior citizens bussed to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center from various retirement communities around the state. The concert, conducted by NJSO Music Director Jacques Lacombe was the first of three performances of this mighty choral work, a composition that saw the famed Italian opera composer branching out into sacred choral music.