"Day of wrath, that terrible day." So begins the medieval se­quence that lies at the heart of Verdi's Requiem. Verdi's depic­tion of the Day of Judgment, and of man's terror, as well as fortitude, in the face of it, is as viscerally charged and dramati­cally poignant as any scene from the greatest of his operas. The sacred and the secular meet in this most unusual of requiems. Verdi was not a religious man. He was acutely attuned to suffering in this world but not much concerned about what might come after. The four eloquent singers - one is tempted to say "protagonists" declaim the words of the mass, but not as if preaching the word of the Lord. Rather, they depict, with sometimes harrowing explicitness, the very human reactions that they have to those words. Of all the really famous religious works of the past, the Verdi Requiem is perhaps the one most in tune with the temper of our times."

EPSG:4326

VERDI Concert

Boston Symphony Hall

It is time once again for the BPO to perform Mahler’s exalted paean to nature, the Third Symphony. It is the longest and most all-embracing of his works. In it, he set out to express the essence of his relationship to nature. In this vast and profound work for chorus, orchestra, and mezzo-soprano, you will hear it all—from exaltation to terror to union with the primal forces that surround us. Dame Sarah Connolly, acclaimed as one of the greatest Mahler singers in living memory, returns to sing the poignant setting of Nietzsche’s Midnight Song. Her 2022 BPO performance of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde sublimely demonstrated the poignancy that she brings to Mahler's music.

Jamie Kirsch

Events

Upcoming events

Apr 11, 2026

Mahler Symphony No. 3 Concert · Boston Philharmonic Orchestra

Past events

Nov 23, 2025

VERDI Concert · Boston Philharmonic Orchestra

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