Rèquiem de Verdi

Verdi's Requiem, a work for soloists, chorus and orchestra, is being staged at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. Composed in memory of the poet Alessandro Manzoni, it alternates passages of great drama with moments of serenity.

Verdi's Requiem is a work written for soloists, chorus and orchestra, composed in memory of the poet Alessandro Manzoni. It goes beyond a funeral mass: the production presents passages of extreme passion and both violent and subtle contrasts, in which chorus and orchestra alternate between confrontation and complicity.

Among its central moments, the "Dies Irae" conveys terror and the "Lacrimosa" a more inward serenity. The soloists display a vocal virtuosity aimed at expressing the most intimate human suffering and the anguish felt in the face of the eternal, in music of dramatic character, close to the language of opera.

The Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona hosts this production, which sets faith against despair in a score of contrasts. It is a show for those seeking opera in its choral and solemn form.