A German Requiem at the Concertgebouw
On February 29, Dinis Sousa conducts the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Monteverdi Choir. They will be performing works by Brahms, J.C. Bach and Schütz. Get your tickets now!
Experience the music of world class performers in one of the best concert halls on earth
The highly acclaimed Monteverdi Choir and its associate conductor Dinis Sousa will be visiting Amsterdam for performances of Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. With this large-scale but restrained "requiem for humanity", Brahms created a Protestant, German-language answer to the more-common requiem mass in Latin. A requiem not for the dead, but to console those left behind.
This collaboration with the Concertgebouw Orchestra will undoubtedly be a highlight of the concert season. Especially with the addition of baritone Christian Gerhaher and soprano Lenneke Ruiten, who, like Dinis Sousa, will be making her debut with the orchestra. In Ein Deutsches Requiem for chorus, orchestra and soloists, everything falls into place.
Brahms’ body of works clearly shows the influence of the early masters of polyphony. More specifically, Brahms was a great admirer of Heinrich Schütz, the leading Lutheran Protestant composer prior to the advent of Johann Sebastian Bach. Choral works by Schütz and Johann Christoph Bach (a distant relative of Johann Sebastian) point the way to Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem in their lyrics and text treatment.
Photo: Simon van Boxtel
Dinis Sousa conducts the Concertgebouw Orchestra
Dinis Sousa is principal conductor of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and associate conductor of the Monteverdi Choir, the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique - the first person in the history of the choir and orchestras founded by Sir John Eliot Gardiner to hold such a title.
In the summer of 2023, he stepped in to lead the Monteverdi Choir and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique on a critically acclaimed European tour of Berlioz’s Les Troyens, including performances at the Salzburg Festival, Berlin Musikfest and the BBC Proms.
October 2023 saw him conduct the Monteverdi Choir together with the English Baroque Soloists on a North American tour, with performances of Bach’s Mass in B minor and Handel’s L’Allegro, il Pensoroso ed il Moderato in Chicago, Ottawa, and at Carnegie Hall.
For more information, please visit the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra website.
Concert programme
Here's what's on the concert programme:
- Heinrich Schütz - Selig sind die Toten, die in dem Herren sterben
- Johann Christoph Bach - Der Gerechte, ob er gleich zu zeitlich stirbt
- Johannes Brahms - Ein deutsches Requiem
Performers
Here are the performers:
- Dinis Sousa - Conductor
- Lenneke Ruiten - Soprano
- Christian Gerhaher - Baritone
- Monteverdi Choir Choir
- Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
About the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra was founded in 1888. Its distinctive sound has made it one of the world’s leading orchestras.
The orchestra is famous for its renditions of works by Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss and Anton Bruckner, and for its long-standing concert traditions such as the St Matthew Passion in the week before Easter and the Christmas Matinee. It has always worked closely with contemporary composers.
World-famous guest conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Iván Fischer, Antonio Pappano, Myung- whun Chung and Joanna Mallwitz will be coming to Amsterdam to lead the orchestra next season.
The Concertgebouw Orchestra has had just seven chief conductors to date. The eighth was announced on 10 June 2022: Klaus Mäkelä joined as artistic partner in 2022-23 season and will become chief conductor in 2027. The coming season sees five extraordinary programmes with Klaus Mäkelä at the helm.
Buy your tickets!
A free glass of wine and use of the staffed cloakroom are included in the price of admission. Get your tickets on the Concertgebouw Orchestra website.