Verdi's Requiem
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Verdi’s Requiem Thursday, January 20, 2011 8 pm Saturday, January 22, 2011 8 pm Sunday, January 23, 2011 2:30 pm Thomas Dausgaard, conductor *Angela Meade, soprano Margaret Lattimore, mezzo-soprano *Garrett Sorenson, tenor *Morris Robinson, baritone Houston Symphony Chorus Charles Hausmann, director Verdi Requiem I Requiem: Andante II Dies Irae: Allegro agitato III Offertorio: Andante mosso IV Sanctus: Allegro V Agnus Dei: Andante VI Lux aeterna: Allegro moderato VII Libera me, Domine: Moderato *Houston Symphony debut REQUIEM Giuseppe Verdi Born: Oct 9/10, 1813, Roncole near Busseto, Italy Died: Jan 27, 1901, Milan, Italy Work composed: 1873-74 Recording: Claudio Abbado conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra; Angela Gheorghiu, Daniela Barcelona, Julian Kostantinov, Roberto Alagna, soloists; Swedish Radio Chorus; Orfeon Donostierra, director; EMI Classics Instrumentation: three flutes (third doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, four bassoons, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, four offstage trumpets and strings The 1868 death of Gioachino Rossini prompted memorial tributes throughout the operatic world. Giuseppe Verdi galvanized his publisher and, in turn, 13 Italian composers to contribute portions of a requiem mass, intending to perform the composite work on the first anniversary of Rossini’s death in his native Pesaro. Although the music was written, the performance never took place and the pieces were returned to their respective composers, including Verdi’s “Libera me, Domine.” There the matter rested until the death of Alessandro Manzoni, the celebrated poet, humanist and literary standard bearer of resurgent Italian nationalism on May 22, 1873. Verdi revered Manzoni, and on June 3 of that year, proposed writing a complete requiem in Manzoni’s memory. Verdi’s letter to his publisher, Tito Ricordi, specified that he would pay to copy the score and wondered if the City of Milan would pay to have the work performed there. The mayor of Milan immediately accepted Verdi’s proposal, though city council members later questioned the propriety of using public funds for a religious service at a time when Italian church-state relations were difficult, according to scholar David Rosen. Verdi bypassed Milan’s famed cathedral and Manzoni’s favorite church, San Fedele, as sites for the premiere, choosing Milan’s church of San Marco for its superior acoustics. The use of women choristers and vocal soloists was also questioned, since Catholic church music in Italy was only performed by men and boys at that time. This problem was surmounted by having the women stand behind a grille. While this memorial employed the liturgical texts for the Mass of the Dead, it was not a complete liturgical service, since the consecration of the bread and wine was omitted. Verdi’s Requiem won broad and immediate acclaim and was toured throughout Europe with further performances in the United States, Argentina and Egypt. Following a period of neglect, the work has established itself as one of the most popular pieces in the choral-orchestral repertoire. Given its monumental scale and dramatically charged character, there were questions about its suitability for religious services. Such questions had surrounded famous settings of sacred texts for a century or more, when the relative values of architectural scale, theatricality and spiritual intent were assessed. Just before the premiere, conductor Hans von Bulow penned a critique that it was “an opera in ecclesiastical costume.” Though he later retracted that comment, he was right on the mark. Verdi could hardly help but imbue the vivid imagery of the Requiem text with music that was true to his innately operatic temperament. Although the work was first performed at the religious service, it was the composer’s very public expression of his admiration for Manzoni and his vivid interpretation of humanity’s fear of damnation and final plea for God’s mercy. The muted, semi-anonymous traits often associated with service music, promoting a spirit of quiet contemplation, were never part of Verdi’s musical speech. Nevertheless, traits of the ecclesiastical style are imbedded in his highly theatrical music throughout the score of the Requiem. The entrance prayer opens the Requiem with a hushed choral supplication to let the dead rest eternally, accompanied by the softest of muted strings. But the central part of the prayer, “Te decet hymnus,” is set more boldly in an unaccompanied motet style, with staggered entries of the four choral parts as is commonly found in mid 16th-century ecclesiastical music. The Introit flows directly into the Kyrie, where solo voices are featured with the choral orchestral ensemble. Intense musical drama enters in the 21 verses of the sequence, “Dies irae.” The image of God’s wrath is expressed in a pounding choral-orchestral march, as elemental as any torrent of Verdian fury in early biblical operas such as Nabucco. Quivering string figures depict the trembling souls awaiting judgment, and a mighty brass choir rises with a fanfare heralding the “Tuba mirum” when the heavenly trumpet summons the dead from countless cemeteries. These introductory choral-orchestral verses might be likened to the beginnings of grand climactic scenes at the center of Verdi operas: the third-act “Auto da fe” in Don Carlo, the Triumphal Scene in the second act of Aida or the shameful public denunciation of Desdemona in the third act of Otello. A major string of solo arias, duets, trios and quartets follows these three choral verses: an awesome bass aria for “Mors stupebit,” a long, dramatic alto aria punctuated by choral interjections for “Liber scripturus” and a soprano/alto/tenor trio for “Quid sum miser.” There is an ensemble dramatically pitting the soloists against the men’s chorus, then the full chorus in “Rex Tremendae”; a lyrical soprano/alto duet for the “Recordare” verse; a gentle tenor aria that rises to an exciting climax at the end of the “Ingemisco” verse; and a highly dramatic bass solo for the verse beginning with the word, “Confutatis.” Departing from strict liturgical practice, the chorus repeats the initial “Dies irae” before a solo/choral ensemble led by the mezzo-soprano for the “Lacrymosa” and the quiet, concluding “Dona eis requiem.” The text of the lengthy offertory prayer is given over entirely to the vocal soloists, whose music is divided between ensemble and solo singing. In keeping with the ecclesiastical character of the Requiem, this movement is rich in counterpoint. By contrast, the following “Sanctus” is sung entirely by the chorus, which is subdivided into eight parts for the first time in the work. Here, the praise-giving nature of the text prompted Verdi to follow church-music tradition and set the movement as a joyous, fullthroated scherzo, abandoning doleful implications inherent in the work at large. The thrice-repeated supplication in the “Agnus Dei” is at once simple and complex. Simulating plainchant, Verdi begins with an unaccompanied duet by the female soloists, sung at the hollow octave interval, similarly repeated by the chorus and strings. The major key then changes to minor for a more elaborate solo/choral statement and repetition of the second plea. Finally, there is an extended, more elaborate statement when the third plea emphatically begs that the deceased may rest eternally at peace. The communion prayer, “Lux aeterna,” asserts its plea in an ensemble of soloists, accompanied by shimmering tremolo passages in the strings and a figurative interplay among the woodwinds. The fear of damnation returns in the concluding “Libera me, Domine,” the prayer of absolution recited over the casket of the deceased. It was revived and reconstructed from Verdi’s original setting for the collaborative 1869 Requiem for Rossini. He borrowed themes from the “Libera me” and used them in the first two movements of this Manzoni Requiem, knowing they would tie the entire work together when repeated in its concluding prayer. Looking further ahead, the huge choralorchestral fugue that concludes the “Libera me” stands as a prototype for the joyous fugue he composed for the finale of his opera, Falstaff, nearly two decades later. Although fugues were common in sacred music throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Verdi rarely, if ever, employed them in his operas. In a sense, this fugue is a “lesson piece” for Falstaff, proving he could write one. ©2011, Carl R. Cunningham Biographies Thomas Dausgaard, conductor As chief conductor of the Danish National Symphony and Swedish Chamber orchestras, Thomas Dausgaard is renowned for his fresh approach to a broad range of repertoire. Under his leadership, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra/DR tours worldwide and records extensively. Since Dausgaard’s arrival in 1997, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra has become internationally recognized through recording and touring throughout Europe, Japan and the U.S. In summer 2010, Dausgaard led both ensembles in critically acclaimed BBC Proms concerts. Dausgaard guest conducts many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Tanglewood Festival), the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh and Baltimore symphonies, the Minnesota and Philadelphia orchestras, and makes frequent appearances with the Toronto and Seattle symphony orchestras. This season’s highlights include debuts with the Dallas, Washington National and Cincinnati symphony orchestras; the Cleveland Orchestra; engagements with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic,