"Give them rest now, O Lord: and let an unfading light shine upon them."
Verdi conducts his Messa da Requiem on the first anniversary of Alessandro Manzoni's death at St Mark's Cathedral in Milan on 22 May 1874. For the next three performances he was again at the podium, but now in the Scala di Milano, and again the work was received with great enthusiasm. Eight days later the Requiem was performed in Paris. In 1875 there were premieres in London and Vienna, Cologne and Munich.
In 1871 the Maestro was approaching his sixties and after the European success of "Aida" he decided to write no more operas. It would be a full ten years before he tackled "Otello".
The story of the funeral Mass began in 1868, when Gioacchino Rossini died. Verdi suggested that thirteen composers write a Mass in his memory. This plan never came to fruition, but Verdi completed his "Libera me" movement, which fell to him by lot. A year after the failure of the project, the composer announced that he would write the Requiem after all, but the work progressed slowly. This led to 22 May 1873, when Italy bade farewell to the poet and humanist Manzoni, a symbol of the struggle to unite the country. Verdi was so devastated by grief that he refused to accompany his idol one last time. But the very next day he decided that he would write a "Mass for Manzoni". He worked quickly and after only three months the work was completed. For the first performance, the soloists who had participated in "Aida" were engaged. These were the soprano Teresa Stolz, the mezzo-soprano Maria Waldmann, the tenor Giuseppe Capponi and the bass Ormondo Maini.
The Requiem has been described as his twenty-seventh opera. It was written for a large symphony orchestra, double chorus and four soloists. To express his immense grief, he composed grand choral scenes, duets, tercets, quartets, operatic arias, grand solos, fierce contrasts of deafening fortissimos and pianissimos of stunning tenderness. According to performers and specialists, this is the Requiem of the 19th century, "the link between Bach's Passions and the apocalyptic horizons of the 20th century." They compare it to the works of Dante, who transcended the boundaries of his time.
There has always been controversy, as well as the criticism that such a religious work sounds like an opera. And the ironic remark of conductor Hans von Bülow, who exclaimed that it was "opera in church clothes", is always quoted. Years later he apologised to the Maestro for his harsh reaction and appreciated the sublimity of the work.
Many times, Verdi begаn his Mass for the Dead, but when he ended it, it was like a confession, a remembrance of all the losses in his life. Certainly, in composing this Mass, in addition to the Rossini and Manzoni dear to him, he was remembering his two children and beloved wife, whom he lost within two years, and his close friend and librettist Francesco Maria Piave. This was the prayer of a man at the feet of his God, awaiting redemption and healing.
"When we talk about Verdi's "Requiem", music connoisseurs will involuntarily hear the voices of Boris Christoff, Nicolai Ghiaurov and many other unique Bulgarian voices that make this music truly a sacrament", says Acad. Plamen Kartaloff and he adds: "A work written 150 years ago continues to chill and exalt the souls of all who touch it – performers and listeners alike."
Verdi's "Requiem" is a superb and wonderful work. Even here he remains a dramatic composer. Complaint and supplication, awe and faith sound in more passionate and individual language than we are used to hearing in church. Religious feeling varies from country to country and from age to age. What seems to us so ardent and sensuous in Verdi's "Requiem" arises from the emotional attitudes of his people," wrote the Austrian music critic Edward Hanslick in 1880.
Soloists:
Courtney Mills – soprano,
Isabel de Paoli – mezzo-soprano,
Diego Cavazzin – tenor,
Yitian Liu – bass
Chorus and Orchestra of the Sofia Opera and Ballet, conductor Constantin Trinks, chorus master Violeta Dimitrova.
https://www.24chasa.bg/ozhivlenie/article/14053339