Requiem de Fauré

An appropriate French-German programme just before Easter. Premiered in 1832 and inspired by the Augsburg Confession (primary document of the Lutheran Church), the “Reformation” Symphony unites the sacred and the secular, grandiosity and the intimate in this blend which makes Mendelssohn so unique and fascinating. Several Lutheran themes dominate in this seething ferment of passion, as well as the Dresden Amen, which we shall find fifty years later in Wagner’s “Parsifal” (1882), his musical testament, where the “Good Friday Spell” marks the resolution of conflicts, transfiguration, in a vibrant orchestral climax.This will be followed by Fauré’sRequiem, the fetish work of the Orchestre National de Lyon and the Chœurs et Solistes de Lyon – who will be joined by the Jeune Chœur symphonique, which provides professional training to the Chœur Britten. We shall also hear the organ on which this masterpiece was premiered at the Palais du Trocadéro (Paris) on 12 July 1900, and which is today housed at the Auditorium.Brought up in the grand choral tradition of England (Choir of King’s College Cambridge), recently appointed first conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic, Edward Gardner, currently director of the English National Opera, will undoubtedly be the man of the situation.