Monday, April 26, 2010

Requiem

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)



Mozart must have been happy last night hearing his Requiem being done in Pozna艅. Joan, myself and our guests were. We arrived at the church 30 minutes early to get a seat not realizing there is a Sunday mass at 7PM and the church was packed already. When the mass ended at 7:45PM some people did leave but most stayed to listen to the Requiem. Fortunately, at the very front in the first row of the church there were four places open and we took them. We sat very close to the choir made up of about 60 men and boys and the orchestra was to the right of us. As usual, it was cold in the church but we were prepared for that so it wasn't a distraction for listening to the music.

The Requiem Mass in D minor (K. 626) of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed in Vienna in 1791, during the last year of the composer's life. The requiem was Mozart's last composition and is one of his most respected and popular works, although the question of how much of the music Mozart managed to complete before his death and how much was later composed by Franz Xaver S眉ssmayr or others is still debated. Nevertheless it is a magnificient work. We missed hearing it last year because we were lazy and didn't want to go to an 11PM concert in a different church. This year we will not be so lazy and absolutely hear this again.

The choir was made up of about 60 men and boys, without any women, and the young boys sang the high soprano parts fantastically. One of the young boys could not have been more than 8 years old, so small that you could not see him from the front of the performance area. When the Mass was over the conductor had him come out front of the orchestra and take a bow so people could see him.

The pictures were taken by our friend, Grzegorz, by his phone camera.

Mozart musi by膰 szcz臋艣liwy w nocy s艂ysz膮c jego Requiem robi w Poznaniu. Joan, ja i nasi go艣cie. Przybyli艣my do ko艣cio艂a 30 minut na pocz膮tku, aby uzyska膰 miejsce nie zdaj膮c sobie sprawy jest niedzielnej mszy w ko艣ciele 7PM i ju偶 by艂 zapakowany. Gdy masa zako艅czy艂 o 7:45 pm niekt贸rzy ludzie nie opuszczaj膮, ale wi臋kszo艣膰 pozosta艂a s艂ucha膰 Requiem. Na szcz臋艣cie na samym przodzie, pierwszym rz臋dzie w ko艣ciele by艂y cztery miejsca otwartego i udali艣my si臋 z nimi. Siedzieli艣my bardzo blisko ch贸r z艂o偶ony z oko艂o 60 m臋偶czyzn i ch艂opc贸w, a orkiestra przyj臋艂a na prawo od nas. Jak zwykle, by艂o zimno w ko艣ciele, ale byli艣my przygotowani na to, 偶e nie by艂o szale艅stwa w s艂uchaniu muzyki.

Mszy Requiem d-moll (K. 626) Wolfganga Amadeusza Mozarta zosta艂a skomponowana w 1791 roku w Wiedniu, w ci膮gu ostatniego roku z 偶ycia kompozytora. Ostatnio sk艂ad requiem Mozarta i jest jednym z jego dzie艂 najbardziej szanowanych i popularnych, cho膰 pytanie, jak wiele z muzyki Mozarta uda艂o si臋 uko艅czy膰 przed 艣mierci膮 i ile p贸藕niej skomponowa艂 Franz Xaver S眉ssmayr lub innych jest wci膮偶 dyskutowane. Niemniej jednak jest to wspania艂y pracy. Brakowa艂o nam w zesz艂ym roku przes艂uchanie, poniewa偶 byli艣my leniwy i nie chce i艣膰 do godzina dwudziesta trzecia koncert w innym ko艣ciele. W tym roku nie b臋dzie tak leniwi i absolutnie us艂ysze膰 ponownie.

Ch贸r sk艂ada si臋 z oko艂o 60 m臋偶czyzn i ch艂opc贸w, bez kobiet i m艂odych ch艂opc贸w 艣piewa艂 fantastycznie wysokie partie sopranowe. Jeden z ch艂opc贸w nie mog艂o by膰 wi臋cej ni偶 8 lat, tak ma艂a, 偶e nie wida膰 go z przodu obszaru dzia艂ania. Gdy msza si臋 nad dyrygent mia艂 mu wychodzi膰 przed orkiestr臋 i Take A Bow wi臋c ludzie mog膮 go zobaczy膰

Zdj臋cia zosta艂y zrobione przez naszego przyjaciela, Grzegorza jego kamer臋 telefonu.