MITO SettembreMusica opens with Britten’s War Requiem

The 20th edition of the MITO SettembreMusica festival will open with Benjamin Britten’s ‘War Requiem’, performed by the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI under the direction of Simone Young. The performances are scheduled for September 6 at La Scala in Milan and September 7 at the Auditorium Rai ‘Arturo Toscanini’ in Turin.

The production features the Chorus and Children's Chorus of the Teatro Regio di Torino, directed by Gea Garatti Ansini and Claudio Fenoglio, respectively. Soloists include baritone Bo Skovhus, tenor Allan Clyton, and soprano Elena Guseva. The event also marks the 50th anniversary of the composer's passing.

Britten’s anti-war masterpiece utilizes three distinct musical layers: a large orchestra and chorus performing the Latin ‘Missa pro defunctis’, a chamber ensemble featuring tenor and baritone voices singing the poetry of Wilfred Owen, and a children's choir accompanied by organ. The work was originally commissioned to commemorate the reconstruction of Coventry Cathedral following its destruction in World War II.