Messa per Rossini: A Requiem by Verdi and 12 Other Composers in Memory of Rossini (2018)

When Gioachino Rossini died in 1868, Giuseppe Verdi proposed to his publisher that a group of Italy's top composers get together to write a requiem mass in his honor. Verdi himself contributed the concluding Libera me, a powerful first draft for the parallel section in his own Requiem a few years later. One thing that's striking about the rest of the roster is that all are almost completely unknown today; the few other big names of the day did not participate (the aging Saverio Mercadante turned Verdi down, while Amilcare ... Read More

When Gioachino Rossini died in 1868, Giuseppe Verdi proposed to his publisher that a group of Italy's top composers get together to write a requiem mass in his honor. Verdi himself contributed the concluding Libera me, a powerful first draft for the parallel section in his own Requiem a few years later. One thing that's striking about the rest of the roster is that all are almost completely unknown today; the few other big names of the day did not participate (the aging Saverio Mercadante turned Verdi down, while Amilcare Ponchielli and Arrigo Boito had not yet really made their reputations). Even more striking is the high quality of most of the music. The initial performance was shelved, apparently due to Verdi's lack of follow-up, and to squabbling among the lesser principals, but inferior music doesn't seem to have contributed to this. Yes, the Verdi Libera me stands head and shoulders above the rest, but any number of the other sections, if heard alone and without context, might make you wonder... Read Less

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2018, Decca UPC: 028948340842 CD See All from $8.72