Rousing Requiem

The Granada stage was positively heaving when the Santa Barbara Symphony, accompanied by 150 singers from local choirs, performed a rousing concert of Verdi’s Requiem under conductor Nir Kabaretti.

Featuring the Santa Barbara Choral Society, City College choirs, and the North County Chorus, I sat in at a rehearsal earlier in the week at the Music Academy of the West’s Lehmann Hall.

The performance of the 90-minute 1874 work, written in memory of the composer’s friend, Italian poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni, combines the drama of opera, the thrill of outstanding symphonic writing, and an abundance of virtuosic solo moments with soprano Colleen Daly, mezzo soprano Krysty Swann, tenor Harold Meers, and bass Luca Dall’Amico.

When the epic work was first performed at London’s Royal Albert Hall after its debut in Milan, the impresario hired 1,200 singers to accompany the extraordinary piece.