Few works in classical repertoire mix operatic intensity with the pleasure of outstanding orchestral music and solo mastery.
Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem Mess , (composed in memory of Italian writer and humanist Alessandro Manzoni, whom Verdi greatly admired), conjures up a sense of dramatic apocalypse as well as poignant grief.
Requiems are also customarily sung in Gregorian chant during Roman Catholic masses held in memory of the deceased.
Verdi’s work was considered too operatic to be performed during an actual liturgical setting and thus over time, the piece was performed in 90 continuous minutes concert form.
Yesterday’s performance of Verdi’s Requiem by the Orchestre Philharmonique et Choeur des Mélomanes at Montreal’s Symphonic house , led by young and talented maestro Francis Choinière, sonorously depicted the fate of the living who fear death and who plead for salvation.
The musical experience included an exhilarating orchestral score, dazzling solo passages, and a dramatic libretto.
Soprano Aline Kutan, mezzo-soprano Rose Naggar-Tremblay, tenor Adam Luther and bass-baritone Vartan Gabrielian, joined their voices to over 100 choristers and 70 musicians of the @opcmelomanes on the stage of Montreal’s Symphonic house for this majestic performance .
The Requiem is structured into seven distinct musical sections that culminated in the heartfelt and very dramatic “ Libera me” sung by soprano Aline Kutan and the choir.
Needless to say at the close of the performance, the audience gave a thunderous round of applause .
———————————————
About Francis Choinière.
Acting as artistic director and maestro of the OPCM, he was named “a promising young conductor” and one of “30 Canadian classical musicians to watch under 30” according to Christophe Huss.
Francis is a versatile musician, active as a conductor, concert producer, pianist and composer.
He is also president and co-founder of GFN Productions, along with twin brother Nicholas Choinière and business partner Gabriel Felcarek.
About the OPCM
The Orchestre Philharmonique et Chœur des Mélomanes (OPCM) is a non-profit organisation founded in Montreal in 2016, dedicated to the unification of choir and orchestra to elevate the experience of these genres and inspire a new generation of music lovers, or <mélomanes>.
———————————————————————-
Be sure to catch one of the up-coming concerts to be held by OPCM :
- LA BOHEME – Puccini Friday, January 20, 2023 – 7:30
- SEA SYMPHONY – Saturday, May 20th 2023 – 7:30PM
