A rarely performed, unjustly neglected work and a masterpiece shrouded in mystery make up the program of the concert that will take place on Thursday, October 17th, at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. A concert by the Radio France Children's Choir, the Radio France Choir and the National Orchestra of France, conducted by Bertrand de Billy. In the foreground, there will be a solo quartet that brings together important names of the current lyrical scene: soprano Lisette Oropesa, mezzo-soprano Eve-Maud Hubeaux, tenor Cyrille Dubois and bass Nahuel di Pierro.

In the opening, we will listen to Sept répons des ténèbres by Francis Poulenc, an opus that we rarely find on concert posters around the world. Composed in 1961 and orchestrated in 1962, the work is originally written for high child's voice, boys' choir and men's choir, lasting about half an hour. The text, in Latin, is based on the Specific answers of the church services (Tenebrae responsories) from the last three days of Holy Week. The titles of the seven sections are: 1. Una hora non potuistis vigilare mecum (So, you could not watch with Me for one hour! Ev. Matthew 26:40), 2. Judas, mercator pessimus (Judas Iscariot, the traitor), 3. Jesum tradidit (The Selling of Jesus), 4. Caligaverunt oculi mei (My eyes darkened with anger), 5. Tenebrae factae sunt (And it became dark), 6. Sepulto Domino (The burial of the Lord), 7. Ecce quomodo moritur justus (See how the Righteous One dies). In conclusion, a score with a great emotional charge, which requires a particularly nuanced interpretation to highlight both the depth of the texts and the music - sober and at the same time angelic. We will listen to it in the version in which the solo part is supported by a soprano, namely the American of Cuban origin Lisette Oropesa.

The concert program will continue with the Requiem KV 626 in D minor, the Mozartian masterpiece whose origin was the subject of some mysterious stories. In fact, the work was commissioned by Count Walsegg to commemorate his wife who had died at the age of 20 (sorrowed by the loss of his wife, the 28-year-old Count would never remarry). As we know, Mozart died before the Requiem was completed, the score being completed, at the request of Constanze Mozart, by Joseph Leopold Eybler and Franz Xaver Süßmayr.

At Radio România Muzical we will broadcast this concert, being the only station in the European Radio Union network that will broadcast it live.

I'm waiting for you on Thursday, October 17th, from 9 PM, on-air/on-line, during the European Stage show, to watch Poulenc's Sept répons des ténèbres and Mozart's Requiem together.