Zuversicht

In the organizer's words:

Program
Johannes Brahms
A German Requiem op. 45
1865-68

Cast
Christina Landshamer soprano
Michael Nagy Baritone
WDR Radio Choir
NDR Vokalensemble
Andrés Orozco-Estrada Conductor

In favor of the initiative "wir helfen" of the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger

To put it somewhat flippantly, Johannes Brahms' German Requiem could justifiably be described as a fraudulent label. For this work is not a requiem, i.e. a Catholic mass for the dead in Latin - but one that is entirely dedicated to the living. It is not about the deceased themselves, their journey to the throne of God, the horrors of the Last Judgement and the anxious pleas for mercy in the afterlife. Rather, it addresses all those who remain behind on earth, "those who bear sorrow" and who need comfort in their despair. The fact that farewell and the end are inevitable and full of pain is not concealed here either. And yet the German Requiem is full of hope and confidence: man in his pain is not alone, but safe in the certainty of resurrection and reunion. As is so often the case, Brahms' intimate Clara Schumann hits the bull's eye with her assessment of this dignified, warmly flowing masterpiece: "It is a very powerful piece, touches the whole person in a way that few others can. The profound seriousness, combined with all the magic of poetry, has a wonderful, shattering and soothing effect."