Limelight Magazine – Steve Moffatt
“This ‘Requiem of the Imagination, featuring Mozart and new music by Jessica Wells, was a superb concert eliciting excitement and joy.”
Read Review >
Eastside 89.7 FM – Paul Neeson
“We had witnessed something truly exceptional, something to treasure for a lifetime.”
Read Review >
Sydney Arts Guide – Paul Nolan
“Elizabeth Scott’s clarity of conducting and excellent tempo choices for the well-known Mass movements ensured the success of the event. It was a joy to witness her controlling the onstage forces and moulding a secure variety of mood and choral gesture from the score as well as the quality instrument which is the Sydney Philharmonia Choir.”
Read review >
Mozart’s Requiem is legendary in more ways than one. Even setting aside the popular fictions, there’s something deeply moving in the idea of a composer striving on his deathbed to finish his last creation, breaking off just a few lines into the heartbreaking lament of the Lacrimosa. And of his widow handing the music over to a student so it could be completed for the “mystery” client. It’s a well-known story – as familiar to music-lovers as the music itself.
Which is why Brett Weymark wants us to hear it with fresh ears. Mozart would have expected to hear his Requiem in church, with chanting and ceremonial business between the musical numbers. In this program, Brett has created a kind of “liturgy” for the concert hall, interweaving the sections of the Requiem with music from throughout Mozart’s life – musical gems that hint at what was to come.
Some you’ll probably recognise (the Ave verum corpus), some may seem oddly familiar (a gorgeous choral adaptation of the Adagio from the Gran Partita), others will sound intriguingly new. Together they amplify the beauty and drama of Mozart’s ultimate masterwork in a musical revelation.
And in Dolor ultimæ melodiæ (Grief of the last song), Jessica Wells creates a meditation on the “Amen” of the Lacrimosa – picking up with a contemporary voice from the point where Mozart left off.
Saturday 19 March | 3pm
Sydney Town Hall
This performance will run for approximately 1 hour, 40 minutes. No interval.
Deborah CHEETHAM & Matthew DOYLE Tarimi Nulay – Long time living here*
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART Requiem (Süssmayr completion)
interleaved with…
Masonic Funeral Music, K.477
Miserere mei (Kyrie, K.90)
Ne pulvis et cini, K.Anh.122 (based on a chorus from Thamos, King of Egypt)
Quis te comprehendat, K.Anh. 110 (based on the Adagio from the Gran Partita, K.361)
O Gottes Lamm (from 2 Sacred Hymns, K.343)
Ave verum corpus, K.618
Laudate Dominum (from Solemn Vespers for a Confessor, K.339)
and traditional plainchants from the Mass for the Dead
Jessica WELLS Dolor ultimæ melodiæ**
* Commissioned for our 100 Minutes of New Australian Music project
**Premiere
Brett Weymark conductor
Chloe Lankshear soprano
Sally-Anne Russell mezzo-soprano
Andrew Goodwin tenor
David Greco bass
Symphony Chorus
Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra
Premium $112 | A $92 | B $71 | C $50
Concessions $101 | A $83| B $64 | C $45
A booking fee of $8.50 per transaction applies.