Amsterdam Sinfonietta and the Netherlands Chamber Choir share the stage in a poignant yet consoling programme: Requiem. Featuring requiems by Bach, Shostakovich and Pärt, and concluding with Fauré’s serene Requiem. The stream is free to watch. Donations are greatly appreciated.
Crushed by the communist system, hounded by Stalin and deeply depressed, Shostakovich wrote a requiem for himself. It became his most intimate and moving work. Bach wrote his “requiem”, the Chaconne, after his first wife, Maria Barbara, had died and been buried during his absence. In this work, soloist Candida Thompson is joined by four singers, bringing the hidden chorale melodies to life and making the lament even more intense.
Fauré wrote a very different kind of requiem from what was customary: restrained, consoling and serene. Rather than expressing the ominous unknown of death, he conveyed a sense of peaceful surrender — the Requiem as an ode to eternal life.
