Verdi's Requiem

Last night the choirs performed in the lobby before the opening concert of the Bach festival here in Eugene, a festival which includes both music by and inspired by Bach. They performed several songs, and sounded fantastic. They then sat through the 90 minute performance of Verdi's Requiem. Some of the more observant choristers noticed a sign of our technological age, the tenor read his music from an iPad. The four soloists were amazing, able to sing over a 75 piece orchestra and full chorus. The conductor was Helmuth Rilling, whom we all found incredible, and the choirs were given the opportunity to meet with him yesterday morning and ask him questions. He knows the music so well, that he conducts the entire 90 minute performance without a music score. The concert received a well deserved standing ovation, and it was obvious from the discussions this morning that all of the choirs were quite impressed with the performance.