Giuseppe Verdi: magical and timeless
Musicians young and old fill the Auckland Town Hall under the baton of David Kay for the APO’s Big Play In of Verdi’s music
An orchestra and chorus of over 350 musicians filled the stage and downstairs area of the Auckland Town Hall recently. Professional musicians joined amateurs, the youngest five, the oldest well over 70. It was the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s Community Play-In, an all-comers event that metaphorically raised the Town Hall roof in a stirring final performance after just two hours of rehearsal.
The music that had the crowd buzzing with excitement was some of the most beloved and famous of all operatic repertoire, by 19th century Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi - the Chorus of Hebrew Slaves from his opera Nabucco, the Anvil Chorus from his Il Trovatore and the huge Hymn and Triumphal March from Aida. Only live elephants were missing.
What magic in Verdi’s music makes it as thrilling and relevant today as when he wrote it? We’re about to embark on something like a national Verdi festival in New Zealand. APO kicks it off with his Requiem this week, followed closely by his La Traviata by Wellington Opera, reportedly the most performed opera in the world. A concert performance of his opera Il Trovatore follows from APO, and then eight performances of NZ Opera’s Macbeth (yes, that’s by Verdi too) in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in September and October.
Composer Giuseppe Verdi
Portrait by Giovanni Boldini
Requiem offers some answers. This memorial mass for a friend of the agnostic Verdi is huge, displaying his marvellous dramatic and melodic gifts. With large choir and orchestra, four soloists, four trumpets on stage and four more positioned in the hall, Verdi fiercely invites us to remember those we have lost. The bass drum in the Dies Irae, says conductor Marin Alsop, is “bone-crunchingly terrifying”. But the three flutes of the Lux Aeterna evoke an angelic choir and with Libera Me the whole work dies away in contemplation of our own mortality.
In his operas, Verdi chooses timeless narratives. He balances personal and political, explores parental relationships, shows strong women attempting control of their lives. The contemporary relevance of his works is related to sympathetic treatment of his characters, revealing their failings and unexpected strengths. Ultimately, though, it is Verdi’s “furious and glorious” music that moves and excites us. Find some of it near you soon.
Verdi Requiem Auckland Philharmonia, Auckland July 7, broadcast live on RNZ Concert
Verdi’s La Traviata Wellington Opera, Wellington July 9-16
Verdi’s Il Trovatore Auckland Philharmonia, Opera in Concert Auckland, July 16.
Verdi’s Macbeth, NZ Opera, Auckland September 21-25, Wellington October 5-9, Christchurch October 20, 22.
This article first appeared in NZ Listener, issue 2 July 2022