By Jana Wiersema, Features Editor
Seven movements. 90 minutes. Over 200 singers and musicians working in tandem.
Giuseppe Verdi’s “Messa de Requiem” is nothing short of astounding. On March 29 at 7:30 p.m., Asbury University’s Chorale will perform this famous work at the Singletary Center for the Arts in Lexington. The group will be performing with the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra (LexPhil); choirs from Berea College, Eastern Kentucky University and Transylvania University; and four professional operatic soloists (D’Ana Lombard, soprano; Nancy Maultsby, mezzo-soprano; Cooper Nolan, tenor; and Peixin Chen, bass).
Dr. Vicki Bell, professor of music theory and director of the chorale, said that this collaboration is the brainchild of Scott Terrell, current director and conductor of LexPhil — who, she joked, “seems to have an idea for a collaboration per year.”
In the fall of 2016, as stated by an article in the Lexington Herald-Leader, Asbury’s chorale performed alongside LexPhil, the Danville Children’s Chorus and choirs from Berea College and Centre College in a performance of “To Be Certain of the Dawn,” an oratorio by Stephen Paulus. Also, according to a previous Collegian article, the chorale performed alongside LexPhil and choirs from Eastern Kentucky University and Lafayette High School at a concert in the fall of 2017.
While chorale may collaborate with LexPhil again in the future, this will be the last time that Terrell conducts that collaboration as he is stepping down from the position of director and conductor after a run of 10 years. Terrell said that his last concert with LexPhil will be May 18, when he leads the orchestra in a live performance of the score of “Star Wars: A New Hope” during a screening of the same film.
“Over the course of my musical life, I have always viewed the Verdi Requiem as one of the seminal works in the repertoire,” said Terrell. “It is a ‘bucket list’ piece for me.” He also stated that the total number of musicians and vocalists performing in this collaborative concert will be about 210-220.
According to LexPhil’s program notes on the concert, Verdi wrote the “Messa de Requiem” after his friend, writer Alessandro Manzoni, died in 1873. The notes added that the requiem, which was a way “to honor his friend’s life and cultural legacy,” was first conducted by Verdi in 1874 at the church of San Marco, where Manzoni’s funeral had been held a year earlier.
Terrell noted that the genre of the piece is also interesting as it diverges some from Verdi’s usual style.
“I think Verdi is most noted as an opera composer,” Terrell said, “but the Requiem is a very religious piece. So I think Verdi captured in this Requiem Mass the operatic nature of his writing. While the soloists sing parts of the mass, they sound much more like arias from an opera.”
According to LexPhil’s website, ticket prices for the performance range from $25-$75 based on seating. Erin Lum, ticket sales and data coordinator for LexPhil, said that student tickets are $11 plus tax. These can be purchased over the phone at (859) 233-4226 and then picked up in the center’s lobby with a valid student ID.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear one of the greatest requiems in the history of Western music,” Bell said.
