Mozart's Requiem: A masterpiece full of secrets and tragedy!

Mozart's Requiem: A masterpiece full of secrets and tragedy!

On April 30, 2025, a remarkable performance of Mozart's Requiem in D minor took place as part of a Good Friday concert in the Bonn opera, which was presented by the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn and the Philharmonic Choir Bonn. General Music Director Dirk Kafan followed a special dramaturgy with the concert to break through the usual course of traditional performances. The performance was supplemented by a concert installation by Anselm Dalferth and Nicolas Morrish, who presented a work for Gong by James Carl Tenney between the Lacrimosa and Offertorium. This installation received mixed reviews and was described as not very meaningful and contemporary.

like GA.de perceived, which offered the audience an interesting, albeit partly criticized experience. The Philharmonic Choir and the Beethoven Orchestra, on the other hand, provided a first -class performance of the request. The iconic start of the introitus, the moving confutatis and the agile fugue "Quam Olim Abrahae" were particularly important. However, the performance of the soloist quartet, consisting of Yukari Fukui, Cláudia Pereira, Tae Hwan Yun and Stephan Bootz, was described as rather moderate.

historical background of the request

The Requiem has a fascinating and mysterious story that begins in Vienna in 1791. From the article to Mozartproject.org we learn that Mozart composed the work incompletely on his deathbed. The circumstances of the assignment remain controversial among musicologists to this day. An unknown messenger brought Mozart to accept the offer to composition a request, which his wife Constanze suggested to him. Mozart received an advance payment for the work and promised to deliver it while he was in an acute health crisis at the same time.

In the course of his illness, the composer expressed that he was writing the requiem for himself. Tragically, he only left sketches and the complete parts of the request and Kyrie, while the last three sentences remained incomplete. After Mozart's death, his student Franz Xaver Süßmayr took over the task of completing the work. On December 10, 1791, the proportion of the request took place in the St. Michael church. Further performances followed, including a benefit concert for Constanze, which took place on January 2, 1793.

the meaning of the request

The Requiem of Mozart is not only a central work of church music, but also an emotional time document that embodies the topic of memory of deceased. It is often presented at traditional performances for Christmas and Easter, as part of the liturgical spectrum that addresses the cross death of Jesus and its meaning. The version, which was listed in Bonn, was based on the processing of Franz Xaver Süßmayr, which continues to feed the debate about the artistic authenticity of the work. Although there are also more stylistically more exciting alternatives, such as the version of Michael Ostrzyga, Süßmayr's editing remains the most widespread.

In the cultural history of music, Mozart's Requiem is often misunderstood, especially of listeners who are not familiar with his other church works. These misunderstandings underline the complexity and the meaningful depth of the work, the origin and process of creation in the music world is still the subject of intensive research.