Alan Gilbert to Conduct New York Philharmonic in Verdi's REQUIEM Next Month

Music Director Alan Gilbert will lead the New York Philharmonic in Verdi's Requiem, featuring soprano Angela Meade (in her Philharmonic debut), mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi, tenor Brandon Jovanovich (debut), bass-baritone Eric Owens, and the New York Choral Artists directed by Joseph Flummerfelt, Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, January 17 at 8:00 p.m.

"My first time hearing Verdi's Requiem was with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta, who does it absolutely brilliantly - it's still ringing in my ears," Alan Gilbert said. "Verdi's Requiem is a unique treatment of a very serious text: it is not hyper-reverent, but it is extremely vivid, even terrifying, larger-than-life, and gets into the excitement of worship, fear, and the uncertainty of faith."

The soloists are young vocalists from the U.S. and Finland, two of whom will be making their debuts and two of whom have appeared with Alan Gilbert and the Philharmonic in landmark productions: mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi performed in Mahler's Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, on A Concert for New York on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and bass-baritone Eric Owens appeared in the Giants Are Small productions of Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre in 2010 and A Dancer's Dream: Two Works by Stravinsky in 2013 (pre-recorded video appearance), and in Beethoven's Missa solemnis in 2010, at the conclusion of Alan Gilbert's first season as Music Director.

"When we started talking about doing Verdi's Requiem we didn't think about when we were going to do it: we thought about who would sing it, and then found a period that worked in the schedules of these specific singers," Alan Gilbert said. "We've put together a quartet that is absolutely spectacular: Angela Meade is the up-and-coming Verdi soprano now; Lilli Paasikivi is a dark-hued, wonderfully rich mezzo-soprano; Brandon Jovanovich is a terrific Italianate tenor; and Eric Owens is definitive."

To post a comment, you must register and login.