Guiseppe Verdi Requiem
by Napier Civic Choir and Hawke's Bay Orchestra
Fri 3 Aug 7.30pm and Sun 5 Aug 2.30pm | Waiapu Cathedral, 28 Browning St, Napier
Conductor: José Aparicio
Soprano: Lisa Harper-Brown
Soprano: Anna Pierard
Bass: Wade Kernot
Tenor: watch this space!
An opera disguised as religious music, Verdi’s Requiem is nothing short of a masterwork. Last staged by the Napier Civic Choir and Hawke’s Bay Orchestra in 2013, we are excited to bring this compelling music back to Hawke’s Bay audiences.
Verdi uses vigorous rhythms, sublime melodies, and dramatic contrasts—much as he did in his operas—to express the powerful emotions engendered by the text.
The terrifying (and instantly recognizable) Dies irae that introduces the traditional sequence of the Latin funeral rite is repeated throughout. Trumpets surround the stage to produce a call to judgement in the Tuba mirum, and the almost oppressive atmosphere of the Rex tremendae creates a sense of unworthiness before the King of Tremendous Majesty. Yet the well-known tenor solo Ingemisco radiates hope for the sinner who asks for the Lord’s mercy.
The Sanctus (a complicated eight-part fugue scored for double chorus) begins with a brassy fanfare to announce him “who comes in the name of the Lord” and the dramatic last movement, the Libera me, begs for deliverence.
With much of music scored with four "f's" - it is four times louder than loud!! Come and be blown away.
Mahlers Symphony No2 Resurrection
by Hawke's Bay Orchestra and Napier Civic Choir
Sat 4 Aug 7.30pm | Waiapu Cathedral, 28 Browning St, Napier
Conductor: José Aparicio
Soprano: Lisa Harper-Brown
Soprano: Anna Pierard
Mahler’s second symphony is monumental. Of his approach to composition, Mahler famously said, “A symphony must be like the world. It must embrace everything.” True to form, this epic work takes on the most profound of subjects as it charts a journey across the full gamut of human emotion and experience, ultimately ending in a message of hope with a choral finale modelled after Beethoven’s Ninth. Never before performed in Hawke’s Bay, this simply has to be experienced live. We cannot wait to bring this rarest of treats to Napier.
This Hawke's Bay Orchestra concert finales with the Napier Civic Choir in full voice - come and share in this "heart-shattering work of genius."
“The triumph grew greater with every movement. Such enthusiasm is seen only once in a lifetime! Afterwards, I saw grown men weeping and youths falling on each other’s necks...It was indescribable.” - Mahler’s sister Justine after the 1895 premier
“The whole thing sounds as though it came to us from some other world. And I think there is no one who can resist it. One is battered to the ground and then raised on angels’ wings to the highest heights.”
- Gustav Mahler
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