Verdi's Requiem

Sir Mark Elder returns to the Symphony Hall on Wednesday 5 May 2027, conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in Verdi's Requiem. It's a homecoming of sorts: Elder led the CBSO as Music Director before becoming Conductor Emeritus of the Hallé, and this brings him back to the podium with the orchestra he once headed.

The Requiem is a massive piece of writing. Verdi composed it in memory of a friend and partly in response to the death of a fellow composer, and since its first performance in Milan in 1874, it's carried that weight. Over the last century, it's been performed in memory of nuclear disasters and acts of terrorism, and it was sung by inmates at Terezín during the Second World War. When it first came out, some critics dismissed it as too 'operatic' for a mass, but that's exactly where its power comes from—it's as much a drama as it is a prayer.

On the night, the CBSO will be joined by the CBSO Chorus and four soloists: soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, mezzo-soprano Alice Coote, tenor Thomas Atkins, and bass William Thomas. The choral side is where the scale really hits home—the CBSO's choral forces number more than 750 singers across four choirs, drawn from as far afield as Yorkshire and Berkshire. It's a huge sound to fill the hall.

The whole thing runs about an hour and a half with no interval, so you're in for the duration. Tickets range from £27.50 to £65.50, and a £4 per-ticket commission is included in the price of every individual ticket over £15. It starts at 7:30pm.