When the revered writer Alessandro Manzoni died in 1873, Verdi was unable to bring himself to attend the funeral. Instead he composed his monumental Messa da Requiem in Manzoni’s memory and conducted its first performance on the first anniversary of the writer’s death. In addition to its profound spirituality, the work also brings together all the finest qualities familiar from Verdi’s operas, qualities that include endless melodic lines and powerful musico-dramatic effects. The present performance was recorded in Los Angeles’s legendary Hollywood Bowl in August 2013 and brought together three superstars from the world of music: the conductor Gustavo Dudamel, the tenor Vittorio Grigolo and the bass-baritone Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, all of them at the top of their form. “It was an important and exceptional evening … That experience involved a radical and wondrous rethinking of the Requiem on Dudamel‘s part.” Los Angeles Times
Dudamel conducts the Verdi Requiem at the Hollywood Bowl
“Gustavo Dudamel puts an intimate flourish on Verdi’s Requiem”, the Los Angeles Times writes about Dudamel’s performance of Verdi’s Requiem at the Hollywood Bowl. “A page was turned and a new chapter begun in the maturation of a music director.” Dudamel is joined by a cast of high-class singers: Ildebrando D´Arcangelo, who regularly performs at La Scala, the Wiener Staatsoper, London’s Royal Opera or the Salzburg Festival, the upcoming star tenor Vittorio Grigolo, who regularly guests at La Scala, Covent Garden, the MET etc., Michelle DeYoung, who performs with leading orchestras like the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra etc., and Julianna Di Giacomo, who regularly guests at the MET, the LA Opera an other international opera houses. Also available: Making Of (18′).