Verdi's Requiem at the Opernhaus Zürich

A scenic ballet and opera production, filmed by Accentus Music in co-production with Arte G.E.I.E., NHK, and SRF; to be broadcast on arte in December 2016

The Opernhaus Zürich brings Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem on the stage in a large-scale co-production of ballet and opera. Christian Spuck, the director of the Zurich ballet, is choreographer and director of this extraordinary production of musical theater and dance. The musical direction is in the hands of music director Fabio Luisi.

The “Messa da Requiem” is one of the most popular compositions by Giuseppe Verdi and is a masterpiece of the oratorical concert repertoire. Verdi set his music to the Latin liturgical text of the Catholic Mass for the Dead and created a musical drama that includes the horrific images of death, end and damnation usually to be found in his operas. Thereby, he unfolded a gigantic tableau of emotions: fear, anger, pain, sadness, and longing for redemption. The “Messa da Requiem” spans from the criminal visions of the famous "Dies Irae", the most overwhelming part of the two-hour work, to the consolation of the "Requiem aeternam" and finally to the transcendent visions of the "Lux Aeterna". Verdi leaves the Christian ideas of death and resurrection behind, and confronts mankind itself with its finite existence.

Christian Spuck’s Missa da Requiem is the first co-production of the Opera and Ballet Zurich during the tenure of the opera director Andreas Homoki. The elaborately staged presentation, in which vocals and dance are intimately entwined together, points to an exceptional stage experience.

Premiere: December 3rd, 2016
Opernhaus Zürich

Recording location Opernhaus Zürich
Production Company Accentus Music
Co-Production Company Arte G.E.I.E.
Co-Production Company NHK
Co-Production Company SRF/SRG
Director Michael Beyer
Executive Producer Paul Smaczny
English title of music work Messa da Requiem
Composer Giuseppe Verdi
Orchestra / Band Philharmonia Zürich
Conductor Fabio Luisi
Choreography by Christian Spuck
Choir Chor der Oper Zürich
Dance style Ballet