Orpheus Singers will give a rare performance of a supremely spiritual and inspiring choral masterpiece at St John the Baptist Church in Newport on Friday 4th November at 19:30.
Duruflé’s masterpiece Requiem has been described as a work of scrupulous craft and exquisite sensibility, having beautiful unity and real grandeur.
Completed in 1947 after 6 years of work, the Requiem is considered the composer’s greatest and most spiritual work. Taking its inspiration from Fauré’s work of the same name as well as the tonalities of Gregorian plainchant, the piece enjoys a reputation as one of the undisputed masterpieces of the twentieth-century choral repertoire. It has been described as softly luminous, sumptuous, suffused with a tender radiance, of a noble and restrained eloquence and a sweet and serene light.
The performance will be conducted by Philip Fryer with soloists Ali St-Denis (mezzo soprano) and Bruce Russell (baritone).
The concert, which is in aid of St. John’s 2020Vision project, also includes Mozart’s Kyrie in D Minor, Bach’s motet Lobet den Herrn and Lotti’s Crucifixus.
Orpheus Singers is one of the leading chamber choirs on the Isle of Wight. The choir was founded by Alan and Anne Burnett in 1992 to perform lesser known works of the classical music repertoire. Alan conducted it until the summer of 2014 when he retired, and Philip Fryer took over as conductor with Toni Rogers as Musical Director.
Tickets are available from choir or church members, online at www.orfe.us/durufle or on the choir’s website, www.orpheussingers.org.uk.
