Mozart’s iconic Requiem, the last piece he composed. Framed by the composer's own words, read by actor Michael Alfera, who also plays the piano (nearly as well as Mozart himself!)
In December of 1791 a dying Mozart wrote some of the most beloved notes in all choral music. He died before he could finish the Requiem, leaving the world a gorgeous, incomplete and enigmatic work. On January 25 and 26, just a day before Mozart’s birthday, the Pasadena Master Chorale will bring the Mozart Requiem to life in an intimate multi-faceted performance.
“Mozart's Requiem has inspired and fascinated since its composition nearly 230 years ago,” says Jeffrey Bernstein, artistic and executive director of PMC. “It’s a powerful and deeply moving work, and to experience it is to walk in Mozart’s last footsteps. We created this concert to bring the inherent drama and pathos of the piece to light.”
An actor playing Mozart reads from the composer’s letters in between musical movements, giving the audience a glimpse of Mozart’s thoughts and contextualizing the music. Michael Alfera, playing the role of Mozart, will also accompany the performance from the piano. The soprano soloist plays the roll of Constanze, and the tenor soloist plays the role of Benedict Schak, one of of the composer’s last friends to see him alive.
PMC is thrilled to welcome to “Life of Mozart” ACABELLA, a gifted quartet of singers from the Academy of Music for the Blind, who will sing Mozart’s “Ave Verum Corpus” (K. 622), composed just months before his death. Pianist Alfera will also play the fiery finale from Mozart’s Piano Sonata in F-major (K. 332).
“The combination of spoken word, dramatic re-enactment, piano music and two choruses creates a multi-dimensional portrait of Mozart the man and his last musical utterances.”
Life of Mozart will be presented twice in the gorgeous and intimate acoustic of the Altadena Community Church. The evening performance at 7:30pm on Saturday, Jan. 25 is offered, as all PMC programs are, on a "Listen First, Then Give" basis. The matinee performance at 4:00pm on Sunday, Jan. 26 is a benefit concert to support the Pasadena Master Chorale. Tickets for this special performance are $25.
RESERVE TICKETS Saturday, Jan. 25 | 7:30pm
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Michael Alfera pianist & Mozart
Jeffrey Bernstein conductor
The mission of the Pasadena Master Chorale is to create choral music
that educates, uplifts and inspires as many people as possible.