Verdi's Requiem

A full evening with the National Opera’s own forces 

A century and a half after its premiere, Verdi’s Requiem still stands in a class of its own. With its vast sonic splendour and wide emotional range – from hushed prayer to apocalyptic judgement – it has become one of the most powerful musical reflections on life, death and hope ever composed. 

Experience Marita Sølberg, Astrid Nordstad, Eirik Grøtvedt and Yngve Søberg in Verdi’s monumental Requiem, performed with full orchestra and full chorus. 

In memory of two Italian masters 

Behind Verdi’s Messa da Requiem lie the deaths of two of Italy’s greatest cultural figures: the opera composer Gioachino Rossini and the writer Alessandro Manzoni. 

When Rossini died in 1868, Verdi proposed that a group of Italian composers collaborate on a requiem in his memory. Verdi himself contributed the movement Libera me, but the project was cancelled shortly before its premiere. 

When the writer and national hero Alessandro Manzoni died in 1873, all of Italy mourned. Verdi had long admired Manzoni and began work on a requiem in his honour. The Libera me movement was brought back into use. The result was his famous Requiem, written for soloists, chorus and large orchestra, first performed at San Marco Church in Milan on 22 May 1874 – the first anniversary of Manzoni’s death. Verdi himself conducted the premiere, which was met with overwhelming enthusiasm and soon followed by several performances at La Scala. 

From quiet prayer to apocalyptic judgement  

The work follows the Latin requiem liturgy and is structured in seven main movements. Among them is the famous Dies irae, in which Verdi depicts Judgement Day with explosive force from chorus and orchestra. Amid the drama are more contemplative moments too, including the tenor’s Ingemisco, the duet Recordare and the grieving Lacrymosa. 

Later in the work, the soloists come to the fore in the more intimate Offertorio, before the chorus once again fills the space in the virtuosic Sanctus. In the starkly simple Agnus Dei, the soloists sing in an almost bare, exposed sonority. In the final movement, Libera me, the soprano returns in a prayer for salvation and freedom, as the Dies irae motif breaks through one final time before the work concludes in a powerful fugue.