K.K. Hof-Operntheater. Samstag den 12 Juni 1875...Unter persönlicher Leitung des Komponisten GIUSEPPE VERDI...REQUIEM für Soli, Chor und Orchester (Zweite Aufführung in Wien). Rare single sheet concert program from the second Vienna performance of the Verdi Requiem, directed by the composer. Overall toning, somewhat irregularly trimmed, overall fine. 7.25 x 8.75 inches; 18.5 x 22 cm.
The Requiem was premiered at Milan's San Marco on May 22, 1874 and Verdi also conducted it in Paris, London and Vienna in 1875 and in Cologne in 1876. Though of course this is not as it turned out, at first, it seemed that it would be his last work. In the words of his biographer John Rosselli, it "confirmed him as the unique presiding genius of Italian music. No fellow composer...came near him in popularity or reputation".
The present program is from the second performance in Vienna, at the Court Opera in June 1875. In total, four performances were given, providing the doyen of the city’s critics, Eduard Hanslick, with an excuse to dissect the work and address the awkward questions about truth, the Church and music: “Verdi is a born theatre composer. If he has shown in his Requiem what he can do on foreign soil, he remains, nevertheless, far stronger on his home ground. Not even in the Requiem can he deny the dramatic composer. Mourning and supplication, awe and faith – they speak here in language more passionate and individual than we are accustomed to hear in the church.”
K.K. Hof-Operntheater. Samstag den 12 Juni 1875...Unter persönlicher Leitung des Komponisten GIUSEPPE VERDI...REQUIEM für Soli, Chor und Orchester (Zweite Aufführung in Wien). Rare single sheet concert program from the second Vienna performance of the Verdi Requiem, directed by the composer. Overall toning, somewhat irregularly trimmed, overall fine. 7.25 x 8.75 inches; 18.5 x 22 cm.
The Requiem was premiered at Milan's San Marco on May 22, 1874 and Verdi also conducted it in Paris, London and Vienna in 1875 and in Cologne in 1876. Though of course this is not as it turned out, at first, it seemed that it would be his last work. In the words of his biographer John Rosselli, it "confirmed him as the unique presiding genius of Italian music. No fellow composer...came near him in popularity or reputation".
The present program is from the second performance in Vienna, at the Court Opera in June 1875. In total, four performances were given, providing the doyen of the city’s critics, Eduard Hanslick, with an excuse to dissect the work and address the awkward questions about truth, the Church and music: “Verdi is a born theatre composer. If he has shown in his Requiem what he can do on foreign soil, he remains, nevertheless, far stronger on his home ground. Not even in the Requiem can he deny the dramatic composer. Mourning and supplication, awe and faith – they speak here in language more passionate and individual than we are accustomed to hear in the church.”