Conductor Andra Nelson led by the 2023 Salzburg Easter Festival in the city’s Festival Hall “German Requiem” by Johannes Brahms. Two German soloists – a German soprano – took part in the performance of this ambitious opus Julia Clayter and bass baritone Christian Gerhaeras well as the Bavarian Radio Choir and Leipzig Gewandhaus the orchestra.
“German Requiem” by Johannes Brahms is one of the most beautiful vocal-instrumental works of all time. Its creation is often associated with the death of the composer’s close friend Robert Šūmanis and later also with the death of the composer’s mother. At Christmas 1866, Clara Schumann was the first to “read” the six completed parts of the requiem and wrote to Brahms: “Your Requiem has filled me to the brim, it is a grandiose work, and its deep depth combined with the magic of poetry creates an outstanding impression, which is at the same time shocking and comforting.”
Walter Sigmund-Schulze, a German music historian and Brahms specialist, said: “The German Requiem made Brahms’ name known all over the world, and also strongly presented his own personality. We have before us a classic humanist symbolism, a successor to what was perfectly manifested in Mozart.” In the Magic Flute”. This is a work born of elegy and strong resignation, even though it also contains bursts of joy.”
The text of “German Requiem” is in German. Brahms created the libretto himself, choosing not the canonical texts of the mourning mass, but rather a sequence of passages from the Old Testament and the New Testament that correspond to the theme of the relationship between life and death.
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