This DVD of Donizetti's Messa da Requiem is the third instalment in the Fryderyk Chopin Institute series devoted to Requiems on DVD.
Performed by Collegium Vocale 1704 and conducted by Vaclav Luks, the DVD, recorded in August 2016, is part of the cycle 'Romantic Requiem' which presents recordings of funeral masses by nineteenth-century composers. The performances take place at the Holy Cross Basilica in Warsaw in front of Chopin's heart and represent a singular tribute to the great Polish composer.
Donizetti's masterpiece was composed in 1835 after the unexpected death of his fellow composer and friend, Bellini but ironically, it was not performed until well after Donizetti's death in 1848. It is a large-scale work and is as powerful and compelling as his operatic scores.