{ program notes
Ron Cadiz of Don Carlo for Opera Philadelphia , L ’ Elisir d ’ Amore with Deutsche Oper Berlin , and the world premiere of La Ciociara by Marco Tutino with San Francisco Opera . His repertoire also includes Alfredo in La Traviata , Tebaldo in I Capuletti e i Montecchi , Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor and the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto .
A native of New York , Mr . Pittas is a graduate of Potsdam University ’ s Crane School of Music .
Dimitri Pittas last appeared with the BSO in June 2014 , performing Beethoven ' s Symphony No . 9 , Marin Alsop , conductor .
Morris Robinson
Morris Robinson , a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program , made his debut in the Met ’ s production of Fidelio . He has since appeared there as Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte , Ferrando in Il Trovatore , the King in Aida , and Nabucco , Tannhäuser , Les Troyens and Salome . He has performed with the San Francisco Opera , Lyric Opera of Chicago , Houston Grand Opera , Boston and many others . His roles include Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail , Ramfis in Aida , Zaccaria in Nabucco , Sparafucile in Rigoletto , Commendatore in Don Giovanni , Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos , Timur in Turandot , the Bonze in Madama Butterfly , and Padre Guardiano in La Forza del Destino .
Mr . Robinson ’ s first album , Going Home , on the Decca label , is a CD of spirituals . An Atlanta native , he is a graduate and two-time All-American football player at The Citadel , and received his musical training at the Boston University Opera Institute .
Morris Robinson last appeared with the BSO in May 2012 , performing Beethoven ' s Symphony No . 9 , Peter Oundjian , conductor .
Choral Arts Society of Washington
The Choral Arts Society of Washington Chorus
Scott Tucker , artistic director The Chorus of The Choral Arts Society of Washington is a symphonic chorus with a rich history of performing locally , nationally and internationally with world-class orchestras , conductors , solo artists and ensembles . The Chorus regularly appears on national broadcasts as part of A Capitol Fourth and The Kennedy Center Honors . The group ’ s impressive discography includes 19 commercial recordings .
Founded in 1965 by Norman Scribner , Choral Arts has performed a wide range of music , from early Renaissance to Broadway , large scale works to folk songs , reviving classics as well as commissioning and premiering new works .
Scott Tucker became Choral Arts ’ second artistic director in 2012 , and under his leadership the chorus has grown to 190 members . In 2015 , Mr . Tucker conducted a festival for the American Choral Directors Association ( ACDA ), and this summer , he will conduct the finale of the Classical Movements ’ Serenade ! Festival .
The Choral Arts Society of Washington Chorus last appeared with the BSO in November 2003 , performing Prokofiev ’ s Alexander Nevsky , Yuri Temirkanov , conductor .
About the concert :
Messa da Requiem
Giuseppe Verdi
Born in Le Roncole , Italy , October 9 , 1813 ; died in Milan , Italy , January 27 , 1901
When the poet / novelist Alessandro Manzoni died in Milan on May 22 , 1873 at the advanced age of 88 , he left Giuseppe Verdi the sole surviving spiritual / cultural leader of the Risorgimento , Italy ’ s successful mid-19 th century movement to reunify as a nation free of Austrian domination . Manzoni had been the poet of the Risorgimento , Verdi its composer .
To non-Italians , Verdi ’ s artistic legacy in his mighty series of immensely popular operas is well known , Manzoni ’ s far less so . Manzoni had written what is even today Italy ’ s most famous and beloved novel , I promessi sposi (“ The Betrothed ”). Virtually every Italian has read it ( Verdi himself first read it at age 16 ), not only for its romantic story but also for its fresh , vivid language . For Manzoni had consciously tried to create a new language for a new nation , heretofore divided by regional dialects . In I promessi sposi he produced the model for modern literary Italian at just the moment when Italians were most eager to embrace it . At his death , a whole nation mourned .
Verdi mourned too . To his lifelong friend , the Contessa Maffei , he wrote : “ Now all is over ! And with him ends the purest , the most holy , the greatest of our glories . I have read many papers . No one speaks fittingly of him . Many words , but none deeply felt .”
Too grief-stricken to attend Manzoni ’ s funeral , Verdi brooded on his own memorial . A week later , he proposed it to the Mayor of Milan : a requiem mass to be composed by him and performed in a Milanese church on the first anniversary of Manzoni ’ s death . Verdi would pay the expenses of producing and printing the music and would select , train , and lead the chorus , soloists , and orchestra . The city would pay the performance expenses . The Mayor didn ’ t think twice ; here was Italy ’ s greatest composer — fresh from the triumph of Aida — offering a new work in memory of Milan ’ s first citizen .
The Requiem and its performing forces — four vocal soloists , including the soprano Teresa Stolz ( the first La Scala Aida ); a chorus of 120 and an orchestra of 100 — were ready as promised on the anniversary , May 22 , 1874 . Verdi had chosen Milan ’ s Church of San Marco as having the finest acoustics for the
40 Overture | www . bsomusic . org