Singer

The CSO’s own Yuriy Bekker conducts this performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem. Special guest vocalists and choirs will join forces to present a powerful and moving Requiem unlike any other.

EPSG:4326

Verdi’s Requiem

Gaillard Center

As a successful courtesan, Violetta maintains a salon in Paris attended by both aristocratic and bourgeois
societies. Finding herself attracted to a younger man, Alfredo, and aware of the fact that she is suffering from
debilitating tuberculosis, she reacts by proclaiming her independence in the tour-de-force aria Sempre Libera.
We then find Violetta decided to give in to her feelings for Alfredo and leaves Paris for the country, where she
(in opposition to traditions) is financially responsible for herself and her lover. She leaves her profession and
sacrifices her income and social life to follow her heart. Society's condemnation appears in Alfredo's father,
Germont. Though he was also previously with Violetta, Germont persuades her to end the relationship with his
son to save his family's reputation. Torn by the weight of sacrifice, Violetta returns to her former life. Though
she never ceases to love Alfredo, she is confronted by him and shamed amidst her friends. Only after Alfredo's
father reveals the coercion that caused Violetta to leave him does Alfredo forgive her and return to her side.
Sadly, the disease has progressed and Violetta is dying when he arrives. Their short-lived reunion is
punctuated by the reiteration of her love and devotion for Alfredo.

La traviata

Fresno Memorial Auditorium

The B-minor Mass is a monumental testament to Bach’s artistry; its sheer power astounds us, and its beauty brings us to tears. Bach spent his final years composing and compiling a lifetime’s worth of his most powerful music into this single work which Robert Shaw called “the most remarkable musical allegory of human existence–its pain, aspiration and promises.”

Steve Pence

Bass

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