Not the Verdi Requiem

This is the second year that David has sung in the chorus at the Berkshire Choral Festival in Sheffield. Last year it was Britten's War Requiem under Jane Glover; this year it was the Dvořák Requiem in B Flat Minor under Gary Thor Wedow. 

The soloists were Leslie Ann Bradley, soprano, Ann McMahon Quintero, mezzo-soprano, Scott Ramsay, tenor, and Christopher Magiera, baritone. All sang their parts well. I thought the men had better voices than the women, especially Mr. Ramsay, who has a very sweet tenor voice.

This was my first hearing of the work so I wasn't sure what to expect. I have taught songs by Dvořák but never a choral work. The choral writing was mostly chordal and the orchestration fairly standard. I guess I was really disappointed in the piece. I kept waiting for something more to happen than did. Finally at the 'Quam olim Abrahae' in Part II the work came alive and was quite exciting.

Next year David will participate in the Verdi Requiem, which will be a different story.

  Dvořák  was born on one of castle properties of my dear friend and former student, Will Lobkowicz. Although titles are no longer used in the Czech Republic, Will is the thirteenth Prince Lobkowicz. The seventh Prince was a patron of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, and scores of these composers are all in the Lobkowicz Palace on the butte in Prague. I spent a wonderful ten days with Will and his lovely family a few years ago and enjoyed visiting three of the family's castles.