Messa da Requiem 2008Dundee Choral Union
Read more about the opera Messa da Requiem
The Verdi Requiem is always the ideal vehicle for a good-sized choir with reason for a musical celebration. This was the eighth occasion on which Dundee Choral Union had mounted the piece in the spacious Caird Hall, the first being in 1931, when Heddle Nash was among the soloists. In 1991 the reason for celebration was the city itself recording 800 years since becoming a Royal Burgh through the award of a Charter. Number seven, in 1999, had marked the approaching Millennium with a spectacular team of soloists.
So what was the reason in 2008? Nothing less than the Dundee Choral Union itself celebrating 150 years since its foundation.
Norman Beedie, Dundee-born and a former student and assistant of Nadia Boulanger, had returned to live nearby, and was appointed as the Society's conductor in something of a rush, only two weeks before this performance. This was in no way noticeable and the solo quartet (two Welsh, one Cornish and one Jamaican) gave a thoroughly distinguished performance. They were backed, as usual for such events, by the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, on excellent form.
