Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' Dvorak Requiem

CHORAL MUSIC / Sydney Philharmonia Choirs


Sydney Philharmonia Choirs presents:
DVORAK REQUIEM
Saturday,  21 September 2019, 8PM
Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House 

Free pre-concert talk in the Northern Foyer 45 minutes prior to the concert.
Sponsored by Fine Music FM.

(Note: This is the last concert of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' Festival Chorus at the Sydney Opera House due to the major renovation of the Concert Hall, for completion 2022.)

Experience the moving drama of Antonin Dvorak's finest choral creation. In this concert, 350-voice Festival Chorus – the philosophical heart of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs organisation – joins forces with the talented young musicians of the Sydney Youth Orchestra and some of Australia’s finest vocal soloists under the baton of Maestro Brett Weymark, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' Artistic and Music Director. Don’t miss this rare opportunity!

Dvořák’s Requiem hasn’t appeared in Sydney Philharmonia Choirs programming since the 1980s. This ‘Mass for the Dead’ is generally regarded as his finest creation for voices and orchestra and over the course of an hour-and-a-half it takes musicians and listeners on a deeply moving journey of drama and reflection.

This requiem was commissioned by the Birmingham Festival in 1891, when Dvořák was already an established composer of international repute, although the New World Symphony and the Cello Concerto were still a few years away. The premiere was a huge success, prompting George Bernard Shaw to mock the English fondness for requiems: ‘the public loves everything connected with a funeral.’ But behind the sneer is a truth. Choirs and audiences really do love requiems – the catharsis, the drama and the beauty of contemplation. It’s as if through the shared experience of music, we can come to terms with the prospect of our own mortality.

Soloists:

Taryn Fiebig, Soprano
Fiona Campbell, Mezzo soprano
Andrew Goodwin, Tenor
Michael Honeyman, Baritone

PROGRAM:

Part I  

1. Requiem aeternam, B flat minor - Kyrie (Poco lento) soloists and chorus   

2. Graduale, B flat minor (Andante)    soprano and chorus       

3. Dies irae, B flat minor (Allegro impetuoso att.)   chorus  

4. Tuba mirum, E minor (Moderato). The "tuba" is a trumpet.   soloists and chorus 

5. Quid sum miser, F minor - Rex tremendae (Lento) - Solemnity is restored; the setting of "Rex tremendae" suggests Mozart.  soloists and chorus  

6. Recordare, D major, Jesu pie (Andante) - The only section in which the chorus does not sing; a beautiful and introspective supplication to Jesus' mercy.  soloists 

7. Confutatis maledictis, G minor (Moderato maestoso) - Trembling and rushing motifs in the strings, a call for vengeance.   chorus

8. Lacrimosa, A minor  - Dvorak gives a sense of urgency to these tearful lamentations.  soloists and chorus

20-minute Interval

Part II   

9. Offertorium, F major (Andante con moto)   soloists and chorus

10. Hostias, F minor (Andante)   soloists and chorus

11. Sanctus, B flat major (Andante maestoso)   soloists and chorus

12. Pie Jesu, G minor (Poco adagio)   soloists and chorus

13. Agnus Dei, B flat minor (Lento)   soloists and chorus

 

Reviews: 

1. Dvořák’s Requiem (Sydney Philharmonia Choirs):  In Brett Weymark and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Dvořák’s rarely performed Requiem has found convincing advocates.  Limelight. (Australia's Classical Music and Arts Magazine.)  Accessed September 23, 2019.

2. The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) also wrote a one-paragraph review by Peter McCallum, Sept 23, 2019: "Dvorak’s Requiem. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Sydney Youth Orchestra. Sydney Opera House, September 21". Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra and the Sydney Youth Orchestra, under conductor Brett Weymark gave a massed performance with about 350 singers of Dvorak’s imposing and infrequently performed Requiem. Weymark mastered a wide tonal and expressive range, welling up in the opening movement from a quiet statement of the work’s four-note motto theme through to blazing moments in the Kyrie and forceful turbulence in the Dies Irae and Confutatis. Taryn Fiebig, Fiona Campbell, Andrew Goodwin and Michael Honeyman etched solo lines with refined tonal definition and shaped the Recordare, Jesu pie section with subtly varied expressive shape. Sydney Morning Herald, from the article "Too much Tallis is barely enough". Accessed September 23, 2019.

3. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs: Dvorak Requiem. Sydney Arts Guide. Accessed September 24, 2019.

Suggested Dvořák’s Requiem videos for listening:

1. Antonin Dvořák's Requiem. Conducted by Mariss Jansons with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. Soloists: Krassimira Stoyanova, soprano; Elīna Garanča, mezzo-soprano; Stuart Skelton, tenor; and Robert Holl, bass. (Uploaded by romanticism_is_not_dead. Accessed September 1, 2019.)

Tracklist with start times for each movement (provided by Spudeaux):  Part I  1. Requiem aeternam, B flat minor (Poco lento) 0:00   2. Graduale, B flat minor (Andante) 10:22   3. Dies irae, B flat minor (Allegro impetuoso att.) 15:33   4. Tuba mirum, E minor (Moderato) [conducted as one with Dies Irae]   5. Quid sum miser, F minor (Lento) 26:23   6. Recordare, D major (Andante) 33:09   7. Confutatis maledictis, G minor (Moderato maestoso) 40:16   8. Lacrimosa, A minor 45:46 Part II   9. Offertorium, F major (Andante con moto) 53:39 10. Hostias, F minor (Andante) 1:06:28 11. Sanctus, B flat major (Andante maestoso) 1:18:00 12. Pie Jesu, G minor (Poco adagio) 1:24:10 13. Agnus Dei, B flat minor (Lento) 1:29:37

2. Dvorak's Requiem, Op. 89, conducted by Istvan Kertez. Pilar Lorengar, soprano. Erszebet Komlossy, mezzo-soprano. Robert Ilosfalvy, tenor. Tom Krause, bass. The Ambrosian Singers. John McCarthy, chorusmaster. London Symphony Orchestra. Accessed September 11, 2019. (Below, Dvorak's Requiem, uploaded by Daniel Coelho. Accessed September 11, 2019.) 
Tracklist:
1. Requiem aeternam - Kyrie
2. Graduale
3. Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)
4. Tuba mirum
5. Quid sum miser - Rex tremendai
6. Recordare, Jesu pie
7. Confutatis maledictis
8. Lacrimosa
9.1. Offertorium Part I   
9.2. Offertorium Part II - Quam olim Abrahae
10.  Hostias
11.  Sanctus
12. Pie Jesu
13. Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)


 

Photo Credit:

Antonin Dvorak. Public Domain.


 

Resources: 

Dvorak's Requiem. What's On City of Sydney. Accessed September 1, 2019. 

Dvorak Requiem - Sydney Opera House. Accessed September 1, 2019.

Taryn Fiebig on Dvorak's Requiem. Uploaded by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Accessed September 1, 2019.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Accessed September 1, 2019. (Available this time of posting.)

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs "Dvorak Requiem" Repertoire Programme.


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