Verdi’s Requiem, with subtitles in Latin

Verdi’s Requiem, streamed by Slippedisc courtesy of OperaVision, is one of the most dramatic, and undoubtedly the most operatic, of its type. Roberto Abbado conducts this performance from the 2020 Festival Verdi Parma with Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini and Chorus of Teatro Regio di Parma with soloists, Eleonora Buratto (soprano), Anita Rachvelishvili (mezzo-soprano), Giorgio Berrugi (tenor) and Roberto Tagliavini (bass).

In 1873, Verdi was moved to write his Requiem by the death of Alessandro Manzoni, a leading Italian author, best known for 1827’s I promessi sposi (‘The betrothed’). The novel brought Manzoni immediate acclaim and had enormous patriotic appeal for Italians like Verdi of the nationalistic Risorgimento period. The Requiem is a monumental work performed by large orchestral and choral forces, and is characterised by dramatic arias and choruses, the most famous of which is the ‘Dies Irae’, complete with ferociously played timpani.

‘In the Requiem, Verdi is not afraid to show that he is terrified by the idea of death’ says Abbado. ‘From the first four bars of the Mass, from the first lines of the chorus (the request to give us eternal rest), to the last note of the Requiem, there is a continuous project.’

Sung in Italian. Subtitles in English, Italian, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Latin.

Streamed on 23 February at 1900 CET /  1800 London  / 1300 NY