(ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y.) – Giuseppe Verdi’s monumental work Messa da Requiem will get the complete treatment it deserves when it is performed by a full orchestra and a chorus of more than 100 in the Fisher Center at Bard College on Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April 26, 2014, at 8pm. The program is conducted by Leon Botstein, music director, with James Bagwell, chorus master, and features members of the American Symphony Orchestra, Bard College Conservatory Orchestra, Longy Conservatory Orchestra and the Longy Chorale, Bard College Chamber Singers, and Bard Festival Chorale, with Jennifer Check, soprano; Sara Murphy, mezzo-soprano; Brian Cheney, tenor; and Wayne Tigges, baritone.

According to Laki, apart from Verdi’s operas, Requiem is considered by far his most important work. “Verdi felt a spiritual need to write his Requiem. Unlike most of the operas, the Mass of the Dead was not commissioned by anyone else; the composition was Verdi’s own initiative, a project that occupied him for several years during which time he wrote no new operas. … This monumental work forms so much of a piece: from the opening ‘Requiem aeternam’ to the final ‘Libera me’ it forms a single, bold musical arch, with a vast array of emotions — indeed, a comprehensive vision of life and death.”

The performance – dedicated to the memory of William Weaver (1923–2013), professor emeritus of literature, Bard College – takes place in the Fisher Center’s acoustically superb Sosnoff Theater. There will be a preconcert talk at 7 p.m. by Peter Laki, visiting associate professor of music at Bard College. Additional program information can be found at fishercenter.bard.edu. Tickets are $20 and $15, and can be ordered online at fishercenter.bard.edu or by calling the box office at 845-758-7900.

For tickets and additional information about these programs contact the Fisher Center box office at fishercenter@bard.edu or call 845-758-7900.