Mozart’s Requiem

October 23, 2021 | 7:30pm
Orpheum | MAP

The Vancouver Bach Choir returns to the stage with a fan and singer favourite, Mozart’s Requiem in d minor. A masterpiece cloaked in mystery, the work is beloved for its mesmerizing, captivating and emotionally stirring qualities. A gravely solemn and transcendent piece, Mozart’s Requiem was unfinished at the time of his death. The piece was written as a mass for the dead, and, given that he had been seriously ill for some time, some believe that Mozart wrote the Requiem for his own funeral. Though there was confusion and uncertainty as to who indeed finished the piece following Mozart’s death, it is now commonly believed that it was finished by Franz Xaver Süssmayr, a student of Mozart’s. Let’s give the final word on the matter to Beethoven: “If Mozart did not write the music, then the man who wrote it was a Mozart.”

The program also includes Ave Verum Corpus by Mozart. The motet was composed less than six months before Mozart’s death, and is the gentle and serene foil to the dramatic melancholy of the Requiem.

In the words of our conductor Leslie Dala “Mozart’s Requiem is a work of such power and transcendent beauty. Given all of the events of the past 18 months across the globe and here at home, we felt that this was the ideal piece to launch this season. We look forward to making music together in person and to sharing this incredible masterpiece which we hope will give consolation and renewed hope to our listeners.”

Featuring

Leslie Dala | Conductor

Vancouver Bach Choir

With Members of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra

Robyn Driedger-Klassen | Soprano

Katie Fernandez | Mezzo Soprano

Scott Rumble | Tenor

Neil Craighead | Bass