Le Requiem de Mozart

Wagner was deeply immersed in the composition of the third part of his tetralogy, Siegfried, when his third child was born. He named the child after the hero of the opera he was working on and wanted to offer a musical gift to the mother of his son, Cosima, by creating Siegfried Idyll. One is struck by the passionate sensitivity, imaginative richness, and orchestral breath of Wagner. A few decades earlier, we find the beginnings of this form of inspiration in Schubert's Unfinished Symphony. The composer was going through a difficult period. He set aside his score for more lucrative commissions and never returned to it: it troubled him too much. Schubert not only demonstrates his symphonic expertise but creates a truly poignant atmosphere, which has led the work to be called the "first Romantic symphony." Finally, the images from Miloš Forman's film Amadeus come to mind with the most famous of requiems. Mozart composed it at the behest of a mysterious patron (an aristocrat wanting to pass himself off as a great composer), on his deathbed, in urgency, feeling his time was near. It is a moving, universal music that speaks to everyone's heart.

Program

Wagner Siegfried Idyll

Schubert Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished"

Mozart Requiem

Mozart's final work

Dinis Sousa: conductor
Anna-Sophie Neher: soprano
Rihab Chaieb: mezzo-soprano
Philippe Gagné: tenor
Tomislav Lavoie: bass