Darmstadt Concert Choir prepares “War Requiem”

DARMSTADT – It was one of the first traumatic collective experiences of the Second World War: In November 1940, Coventry Cathedral was completely destroyed in a German air raid: a sign of the suffering that was to affect many other cities in Europe and that also returned to the country. from which it started.

Benjamin Britten wrote his “War Requiem”, which premiered in 1962 in the newly built Coventry Cathedral, as an indictment of the horror of war and a warning of peace at the same time. With its complex structure and large cast, it is seldom performed; in Darmstadt it was last heard in 2018 under the direction of Christian Roß in the city church. Now conductor Wolfgang Seeliger and his Konzertchor Darmstadt are daring the interpretation that will be heard on three consecutive days in three cities: on October 1st in the Kurhaus Wiesbaden, the next day in the Congress Park in Hanau, on October 3rd at 5 p.m. in the Darmstadtium , which was then transformed back from a vaccination center into a congress and concert hall.

The concert in May should have been a contribution from the State of Hesse to commemorate the end of the war 75 years ago. It is now being made up for, supported by the Frankfurt / Rhein-Main Cultural Fund, among others. “In times of violence and racism around the world, the key message of this requiem is very topical again,” writes the concert choir, which with its three concerts also wants to set an example for respect and tolerance. Conductor Wolfgang Seeliger has brought together a promising line-up for this: In addition to the concert choir, the Limburger Domsingknaben and the boys’ choir of the Maîtrise de Chartreux Lyon will sing. The Beethoven Academy Orchestra is traveling from Krakow, and the three soloists bring celebrities and experience with them, and in this case their origins are also important. As with the world premiere, the concert will feature a Russian soprano (Evelina Dobraceva), a British tenor (Ian Bostridge) and a German baritone (Oliver Zwarg).

Tickets for the Darmstadt concert are available at konzertchor-darmstadt.de, at the concert choir’s office at Mauerstraße 17, in the Darmstadt shop of the Luisencenter and by calling 06151-2 04 00.