Giuseppe Verdi, Requiem - Salzburger Osterfestspiele

Performance 31st March

As final performance of the first cycle the great Verdi Requiem marked a wonderful highlight. Christian Thielemann conducted a very interesting rendition of this incredibly ravishing opus. The Staatskapelle Dresden showed marvelous contrasts between parts where you were barely able to hear them (moments that kept you from breathing) and parts that literally almost blew you from your seats. Thielemann and his orchestra phrased so clearly and interestingly that I heard parts that I have never been aware of before. Especially during the slower melodic passages Thielemann showed his talent for expressing the emotions of a piece while conducting it quite economically.
The choir (Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks) did a great job singing the very important choir part with all its beauty and epic force. Especially the "Tuba mirum" and the fugue of the final "Libera me" were magnificent experiences.
Liudmyla Monastyrska sang the great soprano part and showed once again that her voice is a huge instrument that can cope with a big orchestra and a choir without any problems. There is probably no orchestra on this planet that is able to cover her powerful soprano which still has the ability to sing the most delicate passages quite appropriately. Throughout her whole range she convinces with great power and a quite even pleasent timbre.
As well did Anita Rachvelishvili with her alto part. She also has great stamina and a incredibly even transition between her registers. Her voice has a quite erotic and emotional timbre but still she could switch to tremendous outrbreaks. I really liked her dramatic performance as well as her dramatic outfit which made a great overall impression too.
In the Ttenor part I had the pleasure to hear Jonas Kaufmann again and he also did a wonderful job here. His strong tenor voice with its incredibly virile baritonal timbre was a pleasure to hear and also his ability to show any shade of vocal color depending on the phrase. Especially in his upper register his voice has this unmistakable steely timbre of pure masculinity.
The least interesting of the four soloists (but still on a very high Level) was Ildar Abdrazakov as the quartet's bass. He had no issues with his strong profound voice of dark timbre and showed that also a dark bass voice can phrase very delicately and beautifully. Still his interpretation seemed a little bit onedimensional from time to time.
Anyway I enjoyed the whole performance tremedously and also the audience was really thrilled. The soloist quartet and Thielemann had to get onstage again even after the orchestra and the choir was gone already.
The performance gets 9 stars.
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