Magnificent Verdi Requiem at the Cathedral

Reviewed by Gwen Herat

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The sacred vastness around the Cathedral with its sea of heads was the obvious immaculate choice for Verdi’s magnificent REQUIEM. So, here was I listening to a Master whom I never fancied until the late Joseph Rohan de Saram made me sit and listen to some of his scores. Thus I fell in love with AIDA and with the works of Verdi.

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The glorious roughly-structured interior of the Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour was no doubt a blessing for His gifted disciple, Verdi to lay bare the Requiem. One could not have imagined a better venue than the Cathedral.... not even The Globe, Royal Opera House at Covent Garden nor the vast Kiro Auditorium etc.

These are some of the historic venue that crossed my mind and none of them could have offered the spiritual aura Reguiem possess. No concert hall could have commissioned the sacred presence of Verdi’s homage to Christ, the Saviour. It appeared people in their thousands thronged to see a miracle happen. Such was the scale of the score.

Verdi was the only composer that I can think of who offered the high-profile platform for singers like Kishani Jayasinghe (soprano) Gayanthri Patrick (mezzo soprano) Amar Muchhala (tenor) and Dhilan Gnanadurai (bass) They all sang in full control of their vocal chords, never letting a note overlap each other. It was so very professional that I as a Sri Lankan felt very proud.

There was passion, intimacy, and a togetherness in their rendering fit enough for international debut with Kishani already doing the honours. They were all fabulous, flawless with Amar Machhula slightly edging out the rest to take top spot. That was what I felt about the tenor.

However the evening belonged to the international conductor/composer, Gregory Rose who has performed in some of the leading concert halls. Gregory Rose, a rose by all means, effervant a fragrance he throws upon the audience to capture their imagination.

Rose imparts his exuberance and make people want to reach him. His looks are great; a mixture of Richard Geer and Bill Clinton; dapper and sensationally attractive. After the ensemble grouped together, there was pin drop silence until he appeared with the signers, a sight I never saw before in the audience.

The moment he raised the baton, we were all overwhelmed. He inspired us, spurred us to open out our hearts to Verdi. Such was the impact he created. He invited our spirit within the portals of this sacred place.

The magical Gregory Rose, so passionate, inspirational and dynamic with the baton, fed the flock, hungry for classical music. He literally brought down the roof. But I was sure of one thing when I looked around at the sea of heads half of them never came to hear Verdi. They came to see the dapper Gregory Rose. They may not even have heard Verdi. Dont’ be mad at me for saying so.

Sponsored by the Dr. Earle de Fonseka Trust, the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka with its leader, Ananda Dabera spared no pains to make it spectacular. I always had a soft corner for Dabere for the efforts he put to make SOSL to make it what it is today. A gifted violinist who have produced many a talented young player, his pupils speak well for him. I have followed his trail and today would have been a memorable day for Dabere.

For today’s program the SOSL led by Dabere had 23 on the violin, 5 on the viola, 7 in the cello, 3 on bass, 3 on flute, 2 on oboe, 2 on clarinet, 4 on bassoon, 4 on horn, 4 on trumpet, 4 on fanfare trumpet, 3 on trombone, 1 on tuba, 1 on timpani and 1 on bass drum.

These are all the cream of Sri Lankan talent that Rose was able to present in Requiem and was their big day to come under the baton of Rose. Some instrumentalists travelled from London and India to join the SOSL for the event. A large choir drawn from six leading choral societies would have numbered over 160 for the ensemble. For once, they all combined and co ordinated excellently and came out well, especially when Kishani sang solo with the Orchestra.

If the Cathedral allowed the performance inside, it would have been a better idea to have assembled it in the altar area with no offence meant. It was a sacred masterpiece, dedicated to the Lord with a Christian orchestration.

The massive wooden cross locking down would have made the symphony more impressive. May be some of the members would have overrun the area but it was possible. The two side chapels and the main aisle could have offered standing area for late comers with a better view.

A glorious evening with everyone’s efforts for Requiem, well done with dedication and passion for classical music. Now that Verdi has come and gone, one little request to Gregory Rose. If he dare conduct the Messiah by Handel at the same venue somewhere in the future, I will be overjoyed.

Guiseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (1813-1901) had a modest beginning being the son of a local inn-keeper who sought to it that his gifted sibling made a mark in the local music scene. He was sent to Busseto for formal studies and then to the care of Antonio Barezzi who was a local patron of music.

Barezzi spotted his immense talent, funded him to the Milan Conservatory where he failed the entrance examination for various reasons. Later he applied for the post of ‘maestro de musica’ in Busseto but was turned down and instead was appointed as Director of the Philharmonic Society.

Thus started the rise of the greatest of Iralian composers and there was no looking back for Verdi. In 1836, he married Margaerita Barezzi, the daughter of his patron. But tragedy struck his marriage. They lost their two infant children and in 1840, Margerita died of encephalitis. During these four years, Verdi completed his first opera, OBERTO, CONTE DI SAN BONIFACIO.

Verdi moved over to Milan to continue his work. The following ten years saw him soaring high. He was influenced by composers like Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Meyerbeer etc. He had a host of contemporaries in composers like Alexander Dargonizhsky, Wagner, Alkan, Stephen Heller, Adolf von Hensel, etc.

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Verdi’s essential scores

*Nabucco (1842) Inspired by the plight of his countrymen under Austrian oppression. Cited in Jerusalam and Babylon in the sixteenth century Bc, Verdi made no mistake about its scores that made him the symbol of resistance.

*Rigoletto (1851) Composed on a story of hunchback jester called, Rigoletto whose daughter, Gilda was seduced by the Duke of Mantua.

*Il Trovatore (1853) One of the most implausible plots of any work in the genre of the most popular opera of the nineteenth century, The Troubadours. Verdi took up the challenge to score it.

*La Traviata (1853) This opera is based on the literal translation of ‘The Fallen Woman’ Hollywood grabbed it to make a movie with Greta Garbo.

*Un Ballo in Mashera (1859) The score became highly political and made the Naples authorities highly nervous over the attempted assassination of Napolian in Paris. Verdi eventually agreed to change the location to Boston.

*La Forza del Destino (1862) Based on a tragic love story where the music and libretto are more uneven though critics have acknowledged its harmonies, orchestration to be richer and more expansive than most of Verdi’s previous works. The Overture is a particular favourite and famous.

*Don Carlos (1867) A flawless masterpiece which did not satisfy Verdi until its original version was scored into two further versions.

*Aida (1871) The final magnificent score of Verdi’s second period. Soared him to great heights because of its tender musicality.

*Othello (1887) Undoubtly Verdi’s finest opera and his outstanding achievement. Nearly fifteen years separated AIDA from OTHELLO. Was even able to dominate Wagner’s operas. Very complexed and ethreally beautiful.

*Falstaff (1893) Ever since the failure of UN Giomo DI Regni, Verdi was determine to write a successful comedy opera. He spent two hours every day for two year working on the score and what he came up with was a great score brimming in zest, youth, freshness, high spirit, etc. One wonder whether he was inspired by Shakespeare’s character of Falstaff.

*Requiem (1874) One associates this spectacular, great masterpiece to be his best. An opera in church vestment, the spiritual moments sung as a concert, made Verdi the best or one of the few best Italian composers. There is heart-felt intensity each time its aired.

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