Cappella Amsterdam & Amsterdam Sinfonietta olv. Daniel Reuss

Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ has for no less than 223 years been able to touch a sensitive nerve in many a listener. This music takes a firm hold of you from the very first note, with an evocative dialogue between bassoon and basset horn.
Mozart died before he could finish this overwhelming mass for the dead. This ironic twist of fate gave rise to the most imaginative anecdotes. They entangled the true facts of the end of Mozart’s life in a web of historical invention and myth-making. It is said that the anonymous request to write a requiem was brought to Mozart by a mysterious messenger in grey. And that Mozart sensed that he did not have much longer to live – ‘I have surely been poisoned!’ – and feared that he was writing the requiem for himself. Plenty of material for a film scenario.
Although research refutes this series of events, the Requiem – with justification – continues to appeal to our imagination. As a final proof of Mozart’s genius, this sublime mass for the dead makes us painfully aware of all the masterpieces he was never able to write. What if...?