Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) is perhaps Italy's best-known composer. He wrote 28 operas, but only one funeral mass. The work is dedicated to the memory of Alessandro Manzoni, a poet and novelist whom Verdi had very much admired. The requiem was first performed at the San Marco church in Milan in 1874, one year after Manzoni's death - with Verdi himself conducting. 145 years later, Teodor Currentzis unveiled a powerful new interpretation of this major work, at the very same venue. The performance features the musicAeterna orchestra and chorus, including four vocal soloists.
Born in Athens in 1972, Teodor Currentzis is one of today's most talented and innovative conductors. From 1994 - 1999, he studied conducting at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory. From 2004 - 2010, Currentzis served as principal conductor in Novosibirsk, where he also founded musicAeterna. From 2011 - 2019, he was named music director of the Opera and Ballet Theatre in Perm. He has been the chief conductor of the SWR Symphony Orchestra in Germany since 2018. Currentzis and his orchestra and chorus bring intensity and precision to this performance of Verdi's masterpiece. Viewers experienced firsthand how this top-flight conductor brings out the best in his musicians.