Verdi’s Requiem: Live from Ocean Grove

Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 9:00 pm (NJN1)

Maestro Jason C. Tramm conducts the New Jersey State Opera Chorus and Orchestra in the Second Annual Destination: Opera! Festival at Ocean Grove. The airwaves at The Great Auditorium were alive with the magnificent sound of The New Jersey State Opera (NJSO) and Chorus accompanying an international roster of opera stars performing Verdi’s Requiem.

Verdi’s Requiem is a deeply profound and moving composition scored for a large orchestra, a quartet of soloists, as well as a double chorus.

As in his operas, Verdi’s Requiem presents dramatic contrasts with vigorous rhythms and sublime melodies. Even casual listeners will find “Dies Irae” both familiar and terrifying. This passage introduces the traditional sequence of the funeral rite and is repeated throughout.

NJSO assembled a world-class quartet of soloists who are supported by a very large auditioned chorus drawn from across the State of New Jersey, coming from as far as Philadelphia and New York.

The highly acclaimed Canadian dramatic soprano Anna Shafajinskaia is joined by tenor Franco Tenelli, American Mezzo-soprano Eugenie Grunewald, and bass, Samuel De Palma.

Ms. Grunewald is a sought after artist on the concert stage. She has performed the Verdi Requiem in Lisbon, Washington D.C., New Orleans, Dusseldorf, Aspen Music Festival, and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

Samuel De Palma, Basso Verdiano, has a rich, warm, and vibrant Italianate timbre that spans a three octave range of flawless virtuoso legato singing, reminiscent of the Golden Age of Opera.

Anna Shafajinskaia’s talents were quickly recognized early in her career when she won the Pavarotti Competition in Philadelphia in 1997. The following year, Mr. Pavarotti chose her to sing Tosca opposite him. Recent triumphs have included the title role in La Gioconda for the Deutsche Opera in Berlin, a role repeated in Liège and Nice.

Franco Tenelli , the magnificent and powerful tenor made his North American debut in the role of Nadir in Bizet’s Pearl Fishers to great critical at Opera Canada. He has also performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Kodaly's Psalmus Hungaricus and Te Deum, Liszt's Missa Coronationalis, Berlioz's La Damnation di Faust, and both Verdi's and Mozart's Requiems.