Requiem de Verdi

Verdi's Requiem, an "opera of death"? On 22 May 1873, poet Alessandro Manzoni dies.

Verdi is deeply moved by the poet's death, to whom he had addressed a dedication in 1867 "I esteem and venerate you as much as one can esteem and venerate on this earth, and as a man and as embodying the true honour of our tormented homeland".

Thus the republican composer writes the very next day to his publisher "I am deeply afflicted by the death of this Great Man. ".

On 22 May 1874, the Messa da Requiem premiered in the San-Marco church in Milan, a performance requiring no less than one hundred and twenty chorus members, one hundred instrumentalists and a vocal quartet, all under Verdi's exacting baton.

If the majority of critics and the whole audience seem to appreciate Verdi's work, some reproach him for resorting to musical language stemming from opera for a religious work, bringing his Requiem closer to an "opera of death". ".

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Founded with the desire to make classical music alive, accessible and profoundly human, Concerts Hélios brings together high-level professional musicians around emblematic programs: great masterpieces of the repertoire, seasonal concerts, sacred music,