Requiem & Kyrie - Antonio Buzzolla
Dies irae - Antonio Bazzini
Tuba mirum - Carlo Pedrotti
Quid sum miser - Antonio Cagnoni
Recordare, Jesu pie - Federico Ricci
Ingemisco - Alessandro Nini
Confutatis - Raimondo Boucheron
Lacrimosa & Amen - Carlo Coccia
Offertorio - Gaetano Gaspari
Sanctus - Pietro Platania
Agnus Dei - Lauro Rossi
Lux aeterna - Teodulo Mabellini
Libera me, Domine - Giuseppe Verdi

2018 marks 250 years since Gioachino Rossini's death in 1868. 'Messa per Rossini' was composed in his memory by Verdi and 12 other notable Italian composers. Verdi himself composed the concluding Libera me, which he later used in his own Requiem. Conducted by Riccardo Chailly, this rare performance represents the work's triumphant return to the spiritual home of Verdi and Rossini: the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. {Decca}

Similar to today's rock musicians banding together to put together a benefit concert in tribute to a deceased fellow artist, or a group of women patching together a quilt as a gift to a bereaved friend, Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) may very well have been the first to come up with the idea for this type of creative collaboration between artists to honor a colleague, which is why I give him most of the credit. I for one have always admired this collage, or musical pastiche if you will, which comes together to form a complete Requiem mass. It had been planned to be performed a year after the death of Rossini to commemorate its first anniversary, but due to logistical and interpersonal conflicts it never saw the light of day, and the score fell into oblivion. It was discovered in 1970 and saw its world première in 1988.

As one can imagine, it's very operatic in scope and Italian in style, as most of these composers were leading opera composers of the day, and befits Rossini very well. The opening Requiem & Kyrie by Antonio Buzzolla and the closing Libera me, Domine by Giuseppe Verdi complement each other well and encase the whole work in a befitting "mass for the dead" cloak. In this recording, soprano María José Siri, mezzo Veronica Simeoni, tenor Giorgio Berrugi, baritone Simone Piazzola, bass Riccardo Zanellato and the Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala under the direction of conductor Riccardo Chailly, all come together as one kindred spirit and deliver a performance well worth the 250 year delay.