Master Chorale To Present Verdi Choruses

And Rare Cherubini Requiem At St Rose

The Connecticut Master Chorale, under the direction of Tina Johns Heidrich, will present works by two Italian composers on Sunday, March 14, at 3 pm, at St Rose of Lima Church in Newtown. On the program will be Luigi Cherubini’s powerful and dramatic Requiem in C minor and famous choruses by Giuseppe Verdi.

Cherubini’s Requiem in C minor was composed in 1815 on a commission from the French government to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Louis XVI. The work was an immediate triumph and was frequently performed at funeral and remembrance services.

It possesses grandeur, very dramatic elements and lyrical beauty. It is a work that is rarely performed but deserves much recognition for its remarkable intensity, passion, lyrical beauty and wonderful choral and orchestral writing.

Luigi Cherubini is hardly known today, yet in his own time, he was world-famous and was greatly admired by his contemporaries. Beethoven regarded him as “Europe’s foremost dramatic composer,” later upgrading that assessment to the “the greatest living composer.”

Beethoven once said: “If I were to write a Requiem, Cherubini’s would be my only model.”

Eleven years later, Cherubini’s masterpiece was, fittingly, performed at Beethoven’s funeral.

Giuseppe Verdi dominated the world of Italian opera for over fifty years during the 1800s and his stature as one of the two or three greatest opera composers of all time is unchallengeable. The Chorale will perform some of his famous choruses including the “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” from Nabucco, “Anvil Chorus” from Il Trovatore, “Pilgrims Chorus” from I Lombardi, and the rousing “Triumphal Scene” from Aida.

Newtown residents in the Master Chorale are Judy Bolduc, Ginnie Carey, Lisa Cedergren, Wendy Fong, David Jurman, Nancy Raymond, Joel Romanelli, Grant Skinner, and Dan Yee.

The chorale will be accompanied by Connecticut Master Chorale Orchestra.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. The church is at 46 Church Hill Road (Route 6) in Newtown. For additional information call 743-0473 or visit                  www.CMChorale.org.