Fauré Requiem

Following the resounding success of Johannes Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem last season, the Orchestra, Chorus and Children’s Chorus of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen will join forces for Gabriel Fauré’s Messe de Requiem. Like Brahms, Fauré left the well-trodden paths of the traditional requiem far behind. For years he worked on a serene and luminous Requiem that offers comfort in the face of the end. It was not for nothing that it was once called a ‘lullaby of death’.

Fauré’s requiem – one of the most popular in the repertoire – is flanked by two other compositions dedicated to loss: Mozart’s Maurerische Trauermusik, written for the funeral of two fellow Freemasons, and La Damoiselle élue by Claude Debussy. This symbolist cantata depicts the ethereal fantasy of a young woman in heaven, waiting to be reunited with her lover. Anyone who wants to see the musical forces of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in full swing, should not miss this concert.