Gatti conducts Philharmonia Orchestra in London

Verdi’s dramatic flair and seemingly inexhaustible flow of memorable tunes continue to thrill spectacle-hungry opera audiences to this day. Imagine, then, how people felt when rumours began spreading he was working on a Requiem Mass! Composed in memory of the celebrated writer Alessandro Manzoni, Verdi later confessed ‘While I’m not an atheist, I’m certainly not much of a believer.’ So saying, he called upon every device in his operatic armoury to create a thrilling epic which runs the whole gamut of human emotions from the lacerating fortissimo eruptions of the Dies irae, through the dancing energy of the Sanctus to the poignant ending’s painful acceptance.