On Tuesday 23 April the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra continued its Icons Rediscovered series at the Royal Albert Hall with Verdi's Requiem, sung by a 120 member-strong Philharmonia Chorus and soloists Miah Persson, Jennifer Johnston, David Junghoon Kim and Alexander Vinogradov, conducted by Music Director Vasily Petrenko.
Read on to see more photos and reactions to the performance.
All photos © Chris Christodoulou.
Verdi's Requiem began its life as part of piece composed jointly by 11 Italian composers - a Requiem in honour of the recently-deceased Rossini. Even though the project was shelved and not performed for more than century, Verdi was moved to write his own complete Requiem upon the death of philosopher and novelist Alessandro Manzoni, expanding from the Libera Me movement he had initially drafted to write the 90-minute choral-operatic epic we know today.
"The Dies Irae (aided by the largest great bass drum I have ever seen and extra trumpets above the stage) hit the mark." Seen & Heard International
"Jennifer Johnston... was always a delight to the ear with her commanding, rich tone and very clear diction; and Alexander Vinogradov was a very dark, bold, sonorous Russian bass with fine stage presence." Seen & Heard International
"Vasily Petrenko was clearly attuned with every nuance of the score, his tempi and dynamics were unarguable." Seen & Heard International
The performance featured Principal Tuba Kevin Morgan playing the cimbasso, an alternative to the tuba favoured by Verdi
Absolutely blessed by some beautiful music tonight - and a few quiet tears I don’t know I needed to shed. Verdi’s Requiem is just glorious and tonight’s performance @RoyalAlbertHall was stunning pic.twitter.com/rNmw04SS6b
— Sarah Gosling (she/her) (@SarahK8Gosling) April 23, 2024
Very fortunate to witness Verdi Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall pic.twitter.com/ULfxRtrceQ
— Sandip Dutta (@sandipdutta2502) April 23, 2024
"Was completely brilliant and profoundly moving!"
"Wonderful and very moving performance from all who took part."
"I was there it was amazing! I didn’t know what I let myself in for - fantastic!"
"What an absolute triumph of a performance. Magnificent. Electric. Such polished singing from the Philharmonia chorus, superb soloists and the finest orchestra in town..."
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