Fear, despair, humility and, finally, consolation – these human emotions find their brilliant musical expression in Mozart’s Requiem. A fraudster, who wanted to pass himself off as a composer, had secretly commissioned this very Requiem from Mozart two years earlier. Mozart, moved by the idea of writing a Requiem for his own death, actually died whilst working on this piece, without completing it. His friend and pupil Franz Xaver Süßmayr completed the work in keeping with Mozart’s musical vision. For a long time, nobody knew that Mozart had written a Requiem – it was not until many years after his death that Mozart’s authorship was confirmed.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is perhaps the most famous symphony in the history of music, not only because of its first four notes. Amidst the turmoil of war, revolution and personal crises, Beethoven wrote a work that revolutionised the entire world of music. His musical journey from minor to major, from darkness to light, inspired all subsequent generations of composers. The works of both composers share at least two things in common: deep passion and the undisputed ability to touch our hearts profoundly. Undoubtedly a double concert of the highest order.
PERFORMERS
Coro di Praga choir
Tschechische Symphoniker Prag orchestra
Monika Brychtová soprano
Dita Stejskalová alto
Roman Pokorný tenor
Jakub Tolaš baritone
Martin Peschík conductor
PROGRAM
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Requiem in D minor, K. 626
- Interval -
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
