Requiem à la mémoire de Louis XVI

Description

Despite the immense success he experienced during his lifetime, Sigismund Neukomm, born in Salzburg in 1778 and who died in Paris in 1858 at the age of 80, is practically forgotten today. He left behind a catalog of nearly 2000 works: fifty masses, oratorios, motets, etc. Neukomm worked for 20 years in the service of Prince Talleyrand. The prince commissioned him to compose a mass in memory of Louis XVI, guillotined in Paris on January 21, 1793. This was the second mass among the fifty he would compose, several of which are dedicated to monarchs. The Requiem was performed at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna on January 21, 1815, by more than three hundred singers divided into two choirs. Neukomm conducted one of the two choirs, while the other was led by his friend Salieri. As part of the collection that unites them, the Château de Versailles and Alpha continue their rediscovery of repertoires that have marked the history of France and music. Here, Jean-Claude Malgoire conducts this unpublished Requiem. A major figure of the Baroque golden age, he makes his first contribution to the Alpha catalog here.