Mozart : Requiem / Paisiello : Messe pour le sacre de Napoleon

Description

Mozart's Requiem was only presented in Paris in 1804, in a version slightly different from the one composed by Mozart. The press echoed a triumph. 1804 is also the year of Napoleon's coronation: from his Mediterranean conquests, Bonaparte had brought back a strong taste for Italian music. He entrusted the Neapolitan Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816) with the direction of his musical chapel and commissioned him to compose the music for his coronation, a Solemn Mass in B-flat major. The Palazzetto Bru Zane has created the modern edition of the work that is recorded here. In addition to the lavish 1804, the other year that connects Napoleon to Mozart is 1841, when his Requiem resounded again at Les Invalides as Napoleon's body made its entrance there... Sandrine Piau, Chantal Santon, Eléonore Pancrazi, Mathias Vidal, and Thomas Dolié are the soloists of this program conducted by Julien Chauvin, at the head of his Concert de la Loge and the Namur Chamber Choir.