We have the opportunity to listen, live from Copenhagen, a concert held by the National Danish Symphonic Orchestra. This time, they will be joined by the National Danish Choir, and the charge belongs to the one who, since 2017, is the musical director of the orcjestra, namely the Italian conductor Fabio Luisi. In the program - "A German requiem" by Johannes Brahms.

The largest creations of Brahms, the Requiem has been worked in stages, between the years 1865-1868, the version which includes seven sections being finalized after the audience has watched the version with five and, respectively, six sections. "A German Requiem" is a sacred work, but without following the specific liturgical moments, being realised to a libretto composed by Brahms upon some excerpts from the Lutheran Bible written in German. In the same language we will discover that there are noted some parts of thetempo and character notions of the sections, from the desire to be understood as accurately as possible by the interpreters. In the opening, we will not hear the classical Requiem section, given the fact that Brahms focused on the livings, who bear the pain of the loss of those who are gone, therefore he chose a text from Happiness - Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. A similar text is quoted also at the beggining of tge llas section, and the word thar ends the Requiem is "happy".

Brahms created this score thinking it as a human requiem. He started to compose it soon after his mother's death, still affected by the death of his friend Robert Schumann (who died in 1856). Later, Brahms was extremely moved by finding out that Schumann too had in mind such a work, even with the same title.

"A German Requiem" includes two soloists- we will watch the British Baritone Sir Simon Keenslyde and the Romanian soprano Valentine Farcaș.

Therefore, we have a Romanian presence in the concert, which will, for sure, make us even more interested in hearing the Requiem.

A fine artist, appreciated on the biggest stages of the world, both in the opera and concert repertoire, soprano Valentina Farcaș is known by the Romanian public through our international broadcasts. Daughter of the late tenor Florin Farcaș (a valuable soloist of the Bucharest Opera), Valentina Farcaș graduated in piano at the "George Enescu" High School of Music in Bucharest, and then studied piano at the Conservatory in Bucharest. During her studies, she began to study classical singing, first with her father, then with her teacher Rodica Crenicean. She completed her studies at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany. During her studies she started performing as an opera soloist, then she had several longer engagements in Germany and has been working as a freelancer for some time, with collaborations in Europe and the USA. In December 2011, Valentina Farcaș was a guest of the Bucharest National Opera, performing Gilda from Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto in a special performance dedicated to her father. Coming back to Brahms' score, I would like to tell you that ValentinaFarcaș's performance in a concert in Bremen was particularly appreciated for the enchanting atmosphere created by her interpretation, with an equality of registers and an exceptional clarity of sound in the treble.

I invite you on the 2^nd of March at 20.30 to hear Johannes Brahms' "A German Recviem" conducted by Fabio Luisi on the European Stage; an event broadcast live from the DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen.

The concert is part of a series of two vocal-symphonic concerts, the first of which will be covered by our station, Radio România Muzical being the only station in the EBU network to broadcast it live.