It was at the time of Rossini's death that Verdi first conceived of the Requiem. His idea was to have an entire series of composers each write a movement for the funeral mass in order to pay tribute to the memory of that towering figure of Italian bel canto. Nevertheless, the rivalries between the composers meant that nothing would come of the initiative. After completing the Libera me movement, however, Verdi went ahead and set the entire text to music himself. Composers of the 19th century saw, with increasing conviction, the visionary text of the Dies irae as a dramatized work. Requiems thus outgrew the church and gradually became concert pieces. Figuratively speaking, Verdi's Requiem can also be considered one of his most popular operas, as in this work the composer consistently thinks in terms of a series of lyrical and dramatic images, in which he juxtaposes with unparalleled evocativeness the solo movements portraying man in all his frailty alongside the choral movements depicting the community.

Presented by: Interkultur Hungaria