Verdi’s Requiem runs May 13 and 15, 2022
Opera Roanoke will close its 21/22 season with a work not seen or heard in Roanoke for well over a decade. Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem is a towering work of musical and humane expression that brings over one hundred singers and instrumentalists together on the stage. This performance will remind the community of what we have all been missing over the past two years.
Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem has been dubbed by NPR his “greatest opera”, even though the Requiem is not an opera at all by traditional definitions. There are no formal characters, set, costumes, or props but the collective emotional impact felt by those on stage and in the audience will make it feel like one.
A requiem, by definition, is the musical setting of a Roman Catholic mass for the dead, but it does not require the audience to be religious to “get it”. In fact, the composer himself was not a religious person but composed the piece to honor the loss of a dear friend, someone whom he greatly admired.
Opera Roanoke will perform this piece as an offering, to honor and remember those lost during the pandemic. “We want to encourage people to join us for this moment of powerful catharsis”, said Brooke Tolley, Opera Roanoke’s General Director. “Being able to bring so many musicians and singers back together again after being apart for so long has been an incredibly joyous experience.”
Joining Opera Roanoke as soloists for Verdi’s Requiem are Roanoke favorite soprano Amy Cofield, Wagnerian mezzo-soprano Dana Beth Miller, tenor Dinyar Vania, another Opera Roanoke veteran, and bass Kevin Thompson who will make his debut appearance with Opera Roanoke.
Joining the Opera Roanoke Chorus, directed by Jeffrey Sandborg of Roanoke College, is the Blacksburg Master Chorale, directed by Dwight Bigler of Virginia Tech. All musicians and singers will be conducted during the performances by Maestro Steven White, a Metropolitan Opera conductor who calls the Blue Ridge mountains “home”.
Verdi’s Requiem will be performed at the Jefferson Center on May 13th at 7:30pm and May 15th at 2:30pm. Tickets and more information can be found at operaroanoke.org or by calling (540) 982-2742. Ticket prices range from $20-$120 and discounts are offered for students.
