大象传媒

鈥楧idn鈥檛 I tell you that I composed the Requiem for myself?鈥� Mozart may (or may not) have spoken those words on his death bed, but his choral masterpiece, the Requiem, commissioned by a mysterious cloaked figure, certainly offers a transfiguring experience. Written in the last month of Mozart鈥檚 life, it contrasts the fear of death with radiant hope and balances dark drama with sublime simplicity. It鈥檚 sung tonight by a cast of rising-star soloists, joined by some of the UK鈥檚 most talented young voices, the National Youth Chamber Choir. As a prelude, the concert鈥檚 first half includes a short symphony by Mozart鈥檚 contemporary Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges 鈥� the first composer of African ancestry to make waves in Europe 鈥� and a selection of dances, arias and storm-evocations drawn from operas by Jean-Philippe Rameau, the leading music-dramatist of this day.

Image: David Bates 漏 Andy Staples