Mozart’s Requiem Opens North Carolina Symphony’s 2011/12 Season

By: Aug. 09, 2011
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North Carolina Symphony Music Director Grant Llewellyn launches the orchestra's 2011/12 concert season with a powerhouse concert program headlined by one of the biggest, most beloved compositions in all of classical music, Mozart's Requiem.

Joined on stage by the North Carolina Master Chorale and an ensemble of celebrated guest vocalists, the Symphony presents the Requiem in Raleigh's Meymandi Concert Hall, in the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, on Thursday, Sept. 8, and Saturday, Sept. 10. The orchestra will also perform a shortened version of the program at Chapel Hill Bible Church on Friday, Sept. 9. All three concerts begin at 8:00 p.m.

Perhaps as famous for the mysterious circumstances surrounding its composition as for the striking music itself, Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor was his final composition and the consuming passion of his last months. The piece was written for an unknown patron, and Mozart reportedly came to believe in the end that he was writing the funereal work for himself. At only 35 years old, he passed away, leaving the Requiem unfinished but with significant compositional ideas in place and detailed instructions on how to complete the work.

The result was and is an otherworldly composition that remains among the most provocative large-scale musical works to hear live. As Hungarian pianist Lili Kraus said of Mozart, "There is no feeling-human or cosmic, no depth, and no height the human spirit can reach-that is not contained in his music."

Aiding Llewellyn and the orchestra in bringing the Requiem to life in the Triangle next month is world-renowned soprano Dominique Labelle, mezzo-soprano Krista River, Grammy Award-winning tenor Richard Clement and bass Christòpheren Nomura, as well as the North Carolina Master Chorale under the direction of Dr. Alfred E. Sturgis.

The Chorale also joins the Symphony for the program's opening piece, Mozart's sublime choral masterpiece Ave verum corpus. An alluring work of remarkable simplicity, Ave verum corpus captivates listeners "by its humanity," wrote famous Mozart scholar Alfred Einstein, "by its appeal to all devout and childlike hearts, by its directness."

"The Ave verum has a particular resonance with me," adds Llewellyn. "I flew into Boston on the tenth of September 2001 to perform Haydn's Creation with the Haydn & Handel Society. We programmed Ave verum corpus to precede all of our programs that week."

The two Raleigh performances also feature a local note in the magnificent This Thread, by Raleigh composer and North Carolina State University Music Department Director J. Mark Scearce. The penetrating work in one movement was composed in 2003 as a response to Toni Morrison's commemorative poem The Dead of September 11. It will feature in solo parts mezzo-soprano Krista River and North Carolina Symphony concertmaster Brian Reagin.

Scearce is a frequent North Carolina Symphony collaborator and guest speaker, with the orchestra first performing his work in 1999. This is the Symphony's first performance of This Thread

"I think it's his finest work," says Llewellyn.

Regular tickets to the Duke Medicine Classical Series Raleigh performances of "Mozart's Requiem" on Thursday and Saturday, Sept. 8 and 10, range from $40 to $70, with $40 tickets for seniors and $10 tickets for students.

It is the first concert in the Symphony's 2011/12 discount series "Universal Voices," allowing concertgoers to save on four 2011/12 season concerts featuring major choral works, including Carmina Burana. Visit www.ncsymphony.org for this and other opportunities to save.

Meymandi Concert Hall is located in the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., in Raleigh.

Tickets to the Chapel Hill performance on Saturday, Sept. 9, range from $40 to $60. Chapel Hill Bible Church is located at 260 Erwin Road.

About the North Carolina Symphony

Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony performs over 175 concerts annually to adults and school children. The orchestra travels extensively throughout the state to venues in over 50 North Carolina counties. Under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn, Resident Conductor William Henry Curry and Associate Conductor Sarah Hicks, the orchestra employs 67 professional musicians.

Based in downtown Raleigh's spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts and an outdoor summer venue at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., the Symphony performs about 60 concerts annually in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary metropolitan area. It also holds concerts in Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines, Wilmington and many other North Carolina communities throughout the year.

For tickets, program notes, podcasts-or just to get to know your Symphony's musicians-visit the North Carolina Symphony Web site at www.ncsymphony.org. Call North Carolina Symphony Audience Services at 919.733.2750 or toll free 877.627.6724.



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