The Hartt School Presents Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, 5/2

The formidable talents of The Hartt School Choruses (Edward Bolkovac, director), Hartt Symphony Orchestra (Christopher Zimmerman, director), Connecticut Children's Chorus (Stuart Younse, director), Hartford Chorale (Richard Coffey, director), and the choir of the Cathedral of St. Joseph (Jeffrey Douma, director) combine to perform Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, conducted by Christopher Zimmerman. Presented by The Hartt School, this concert will take place on Sunday, May 2, at 5:00 PM at the Cathedral of St. Joseph, 140 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut, 860.249.8431.

Reservations: $50 advanced reservation, premium reserved seating; $25 advanced reservation, preferred reserved seating; $20 suggested donation at the door, general seating. Limited seating available; advanced reservations strongly encouraged. For advanced reservations, please contact the University of Hartford Box Office at 860.768.4228 or visit www.hartford.edu/hartt.

Soloists - Jonita Lattimore, soprano, William Hite tenor, and David Murray, baritone - join the more than 300 vocalists and instrumentalists for this massive work. Dr. Ezequiel Menéndez, Director of Music at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph since 1998, will accompany the Children's Choir. Marked by the juxtaposition of Wilfred Owen's poetry and the text of the Latin Mass, the Requiem presents in strong and poignant terms the brutality and, for Britten, futility of war.

Maestro Zimmerman says of the piece, "The sheer scale of the musical forces and the diversity of the orchestral palette-from the large-scale gestures of the Dies Irae through the anglo-liturgical atmosphere of the children's choir to the eerily intimate sparseness of the final text of Wilfred Owen's poem "Strange Meeting"-make this piece an event." He goes on to say, "This piece is about us and our lack of answers to the perennial problem of war and peace. At the front of the score Britten quotes Owen in a phrase, the last line of which is "all a poet can do is warn." With his War Requiem, Britten as a composer is surely asking that the least we can do is listen."

The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford that offers innovative degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. With more than 400 concerts, recitals, plays, master classes, dance performances, and musical theatre productions a year, performance is central to Hartt's curriculum. For more information on The Hartt School, visit www.hartford.edu/hartt.

Photo: By Don Bonner

 

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