Spring Concert 2025

Where: Stórhøll
Duration: 90 min (incl break)

The Faroe Islands Symphony Orchestra, choir, and soloists perform Verdi Requiem The world’s most dramatic funeral mass with a large choir, symphony orchestra, four international soloists, and a guest conductor in the Nordic House.

Conductor: Fredrik Burstedt (SE)

Soloists: Soprano Agnes Thorsteins (IS), Mezzo-soprano Emma Sventelius (SE), Tenor Bror Magnus Tødenes (NO), Bass Zaza Gagua (GEO)

Verdi Requiem
Before Giuseppe Verdi turned 60, there was little to suggest that he would write perhaps the world’s most dramatic funeral mass. He is even said to have said: “So many funeral masses have been written, why should I write another one?”. When Verdi was 55, his great role model, Gioacchino Rossini, died. Verdi and other Italian composers began writing a joint funeral mass to honor Rossini. Here, Verdi wrote the last movement, Libera me. However, the work was never performed. Five years later, the poet Alessandro Manzoni, who was also a great role model, died. After this, Verdi wrote a funeral mass for Manzoni. In 1874, the Requiem was premiered in St. Mark’s Basilica in Milan and a few days later in La Scala. The work was very well received and was performed in New York, London, Paris, Argentina and Egypt, among other places. Later, the Pope banned the performance of orchestral works with female soloists in the Catholic Church. In 1902, two years after Verdi’s death, the church placed the work in historical oblivion. Here the work lay for 30 years before it was recorded and has since been performed in concert halls all over the world.

Soprano: Agnes Thorsteins (IS)
Icelandic Agnes Thorsteins studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. She has also participated in master classes with Anne Sofie von Otter and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. Agnes regularly performs in the finest concert halls in Europe.

Mezzo-soprano: Emma Sventelius (SE)
Swedish Emma Sventelius studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen and completed her studies in Vienna. She made her international debut in the role of Suzuki in Madame Butterfly at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. 

Tenor: Bror Magnus Tødenes (NO)
Norwegian Brother Magnus Tødenes is one of the finest singers on the Scandinavian stage. He has sung at the Vienna State Opera and other renowned opera houses. In 2015, he won both first prize and the audience prize in the Renata Tebaldi competition.

Bass Zaza Gagua (GEO)
Zaza Gagua, from Tbilisi, Georgia, studied law before his love for music won over law. He graduated from the Tbilisi State Conservatory and has also studied in Helsinki and Stockholm. He currently performs at the Staatstheater Darmstadt in Germany. Conductor Fredrik Burstedt, from Sweden, was a violinist and concertmaster for many years. Today he is sought after as a conductor. Fredrik has conducted symphony orchestras in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany. Fredrik has received several honorary degrees, including the Herbert Blomstedt scholarship.

See more at Tímin.fo