THE BASICS: JoAnn Falletta conducts the final classics concert of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2022-2023 season with one work, 19th-century Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi’s mighty REQUIEM, with 120 singers from the combined Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus (Adam Luebke, BPC Music Director) and the SUNY Fredonia Concert Choir and soloists Laquita Mitchell, Tamara Gura, Charles Reid, and Darren Stokes (S,Mz,T,B) plus four trumpeters in the balcony all with the BPO at Kleinhans Music Hall on Friday night. The concert repeats Sunday, June 11, at 2:30 pm. For tickets, visit bpo.org, call (716) 885-5000, or just come to the box office at Kleinhans. Runtime: 80 minutes, no intermission
Verdi (say “VAIR-dee”) is one of the most dramatic composers ever, and his 26 operas speak to that, often stories of betrayal, subterfuge, and unbridled rage. More than a writer of songs, his ability to orchestrate, to squeeze out the most sound and the widest color palette possible, is beyond measure. His Requiem, known as “an opera set to sacred text” speaks to that.
In seven sections, or movements: I. The Requiem and Kyrie, II. Dies Irae (Day of Wrath), III. Domine Jesu, IV Sanctus, V Agnus Dei, VI Lux Aeterna, and VII Libera me, the last section was actually composed first, as Verdi’s contribution to a proposed joint-composer-project to write a Requiem for the opera composer Gioachino Rossini. That never developed but upon the death of beloved (and politically very important) Italian author Alessandro Manzoni, Verdi dusted that section off and added the others. Each one has its own special charm.
Without a doubt, the most memorable is the Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) with a phrase that begins over and over with a BANG! created by two drums – the huge bass drum and one of the kettle drums. I love that section and guess what… it’s inserted throughout the Requiem as a sort of placeholder between sections. Talk about getting more bang for your buck!
I was beyond thrilled with the four soloists. It’s not easy to get four voices of equal beauty, clarity, power, and intensity, but Falletta succeeded brilliantly. You really have to hear these four – Laquita Mitchell, Tamara Gura, Charles Reid, and Darren Stokes.
The Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus always sounds good, but I’m wondering if having the 37 SUNY Fredonia Concert Choir performers added just the right amount of young blood to get everyone to kick it up a notch. Whatever the reason, they sounded great.
Don’t worry that you don’t know Latin. The sung text is projected as supertitles IN ENGLISH over the stage. The Friday night audience leaped to their feet and the applause went on and on. So, I wasn’t alone in my assessment.
Kleinhans Music Hall is at “3 Symphony Circle” Buffalo, 14201 where Porter Avenue, Richmond Avenue, North Street and Wadsworth meet at a traffic circle. Visit www.bpo.org or call 716-885-5000. Full-service bar in the lobby or across the lobby in the Mary Seaton Room. Masks are optional.
After a short break, the BPO will reassemble and perform a series of outdoor concerts all during the month of July. Here’s where they are during just the first week.
Lewiston Academy Park, Saturday, July 1, 7:00 pm. It’s FREE
Ellicottville Summer Music Festival, Sunday, July 2, 8:00 pm TICKETS at bpo.org. It’s a concert under the stars at Holiday Valley.
27th Annual KeyBank Independence Eve at the Bisons, Monday, July 3, with a 6:05 pm game time, concert, and fireworks to follow. Get your tickets from the Buffalo Bisons.
Newstead Veteran’s Park, Wednesday, July 5, 7:00 pm. It’s FREE
Bassett Park, Friday, July 7, 8:00 pm. It’s FREE
And that’s just the first week. The concerts continue, most of them FREE, for the entire month of July.