Considered by many to be the greatest choral masterwork of all time, the "Verdi Requiem" will be performed with orchestra, soloists and a 120-voice chorus, under the direction of JoAnne Wasserman. The concert will be held May 16 at 8:00 p.m. and May 17 at 3:00 p.m. at the Granada Theatre, 1214 State Street, Santa Barbara. The dates of this performance had been on the SBCS calendar for over two years, but recently the group discovered that on the same day, the Requiem will also be performed in the Czech Republic to commemorate the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp, Terezin, outside Prague, and the concert will be dedicated to the memory of the prisoners there who performed the same work during their imprisonment. Ticket prices start at $20. Sponsor tickets are $500 per person. (Sponsors receive preferred seating, rehearsal privileges and invitation to post-concert reception.) Call The Granada Box Office: 805.899.2222

Metropolitan Opera Star Eduardo Villa will be the tenor soloist for this performance. Joining Mr. Villa onstage will be soloists Erin Wood, Cynthia Jansen, and Michael Gallup. The orchestra will be expanded to nearly 60 instrumental artists. This will be one of the most impressive concerts in the Choral Society's 61 years of presenting the best in the choral tradition to the Santa Barbara Community. Don't miss it!

If you would like to know more about this piece, read the program notes below:

Throughout the work, Verdi uses vigorous rhythms, sublime melodies, and dramatic contrasts — much as he did in his operas — to express the powerful emotions engendered by the text. The terrifying (and instantly recognizable) "Dies Irae" that introduces the traditional sequence of the Latin funeral rite is repeated throughout for a sense of unity, which allows Verdi to explore the feelings of loss and sorrow as well as the human desire for forgiveness and mercy found in the intervening movements of the Requiem. Trumpets surround the stage to produce an inescapable call to Judgement in the "Tuba mirum" (the resulting combination of brass and choral quadruple-fortissimo markings resulting in some of the loudest unamplified music ever written), and the almost oppressive atmosphere of the "Rex tremendae" creates a sense of unworthiness before the King of Tremendous Majesty. Yet the well-known tenor solo "Ingemisco" radiates hope for the sinner who asks for the Lord's mercy. Verdi also recycles and reworks the duet "Qui me rendra ce mort? Ô funèbres abîmes!", from Act IV of Don Carlos, in the beautiful "Lachrymosa" which ends this sequence.

The joyful "Sanctus" (a complicated eight-part fugue scored for double chorus) begins with a brassy fanfare to announce him "who comes in the name of the Lord" and leads into an angelic "Agnus Dei" sung by the female soloists with the chorus. Finally the "Libera me," the oldest music by Verdi in the Requiem, interrupts. Here the soprano cries out, begging, "Free me, Lord, from eternal death ... when you will come to judge the world by fire."