Boston may be smaller and more quaint that other American metropolises, but the city thrives as a vibrant cultural center that brims with amazing art, innovative theatre, and, above all else, one of the world’s best orchestras: the Boston Symphony. This past Thursday, the Boston Symphony held its season premiere, marking its 122nd season. With conductor Seiji Ozawa’s retirement last year, and with James Levine waiting until 2004 to take his place, a parade of world-renowned guest-conductors will lead this orchestra through the next two seasons.
Starting off the list of who’s who in the classical music world was this weekend’s guest conductor, the Spanish-born Maestro Rafael Frohbeck de Burgos, leading the orchestra, soprano Barbara Frittoli, contralto Larissa Diadkova, tenor Giuseppe Sabbatini, bass Reinhard Hagen, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor, in Verdi’s Requiem Mass.
This grand piece provided an excellent opening night vehicle to showcase the extraordinary artistic ability of the orchestra, singers, and all performers involved. From the heart-wrenching Libera me to the downright terrifying Dies irae, Verdi combines his operatic genius with the moving words of the Requiem Mass to show all breadths of human emotion.
The Requiem was dedicated to the Italian poet/novelist Alessandro Manzoni, who was, upon his death, one of the great political icons of his emerging country. While this masterpiece was written in memory of Manzoni, Verdi’s genius takes this piece to a different level, raising questions about our own frailty and inevitable mortality. As one listens to the throbbing drum and soaring choir in the Dies irae (“days of wrath”), an undeniable sense of dread falls over the audience. In the Libera me (“deliver me”), the soprano’s soaring vocals can lift one’s soul into a spiritual ecstasy.
From the pen of a non-religious writer comes one of the most human and beautiful expressions of man’s sorrowful condition. The juxtaposition of operatic music with religious text provides a transcendent experience that urges the audience to look inward rather than upward and finds a deep thread connecting all of humanity. The secular spirituality of Verdi’s Requiem speaks to us today as it did to his audience over 100 years ago.
While classical music may be widely ignored in the wake of popular music, the wonderful cultural wealth that exists in Boston demands exploration.
The Symphony offers many special ticket deals for students that make it very convenient to hear some of the best performances in the world. There are a myriad of great masterpieces, like Verdi’s Requiem, out there, and in the great city of Boston, they are right at your fingertips, waiting to be discovered.