Interview
Donald Runnicles in conversation with Fergus McWilliam Brahms’s Requiem with Donald Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony Chorus
It is Brahms of all people, the aloof North German, who has given us perhaps the most human of requiems. In contrast to the Catholic Mass for the Dead, his work does not focus on the vision of the Last Judgement, but on comfort for the bereaved. In a special transatlantic collaboration, the Berliner Philharmoniker perform here together with the Atlanta Symphony Chorus. The conductor is Donald Runnicles.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”, says Johannes Brahms’ German Requiem. While masses for the dead by contemporaries focused particularly on the dramatic aspects of the Dies irae – the Day of Judgement – in music with great impact, Brahms’s Requiem is full of comforting gentleness for the bereaved. The work, in which the choir plays an important role, was an outstanding success for the composer.
This performance by the Berliner Philharmoniker under the direction of Donald Runnicles has a special appeal thanks to the participation of the Atlanta Symphony Chorus. The choir has partnered the orchestra on several occasions in the past and has always impressed with its sophisticated sound. Also following this performance, the Tagesspiegel wrote: “You can hardly believe your ears when the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus raises its voice in the Philharmonie. It develops a stylistic sensibility that anticipates the angular density of Mahler’s Eighth, and later, with gentle optimism, makes it sound as if it were a piece by Mendelssohn. Loud cheers for the exceptional singers from Atlanta.”
The Philharmoniker have also worked for several years with composer Sebastian Currier. Following a number of chamber performances, the orchestra, with Marie-Pierre Langlamet as soloist, performs the première of Currier’s Harp Concerto. In doing so, they present one of the most interesting American composers of his generation, whose musical language was once characterised by the Washington Post as “lyrical, colourful, firmly rooted in tradition, but absolutely new”.
Berliner Philharmoniker
Donald Runnicles
Marie-Pierre Langlamet
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus
© 2009 Berlin Phil Media GmbH
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