Concerts & Events

Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín
A concert-drama conceived and created by Murry Sidlin (2002)

Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín is a concert-drama that combines film and music. It tells the story of the courageous Jewish prisoners in the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp (Terezín) during World War II, who performed Giuseppe Verdi’s powerful Messa da Requiem while experiencing the depths of human degradation. From a single smuggled score, they performed the Requiem at least sixteen times, including one performance before senior SS officials from Berlin and an International Red Cross delegation. They were forced to reconstitute the choir three times as members were transported to Auschwitz. Imprisoned conductor Rafael Schächter told the choir, “We will sing to the Nazis what we cannot say to them.”

Created and written by Murry Sidlin, Defiant Requiem combines the music of Verdi with video testimony from survivors of the original Terezín chorus and footage from the 1944 Nazi propaganda film about Theresienstadt. The performance also includes actors who speak the words of Schächter and other Jewish prisoners who faced death every day, explaining how and why they chose to learn and perform a Latin Catholic mass during their darkest hours. The performances came to symbolize resistance and defiance, demonstrating the prisoners’ courage to confront the worst of mankind with the best of mankind. Defiant Requiem has been presented worldwide more than fifty times since its Portland, Oregon, premiere in 2002. On three occasions—May 2006, May 2009 and June 2009—Sidlin has led performances in the Czech town of Terezín. In 2013, Sidlin received the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Medal of Valor for his efforts to keep alive the memory of Rafael Schächter.

Giuseppe Verdi (October 9/10, 1813-January 27, 1901)
Messa da requiem (1874)

Giuseppe Verdi was a child prodigy, performing at his local church before the age of 10 and composing by his mid-teenage years. His first opera, Oberto, was completed in 1839 and, after being shopped around, was finally accepted for performance at La Scala. From that point on, commissions for operas made Verdi one of the richest and most famous composers in the world. He went through four phases in his career, all identified by the subject matter of his works: heroic subjects (e.g., Nabucco); personal “human” stories (e.g., Rigoletto); political themes with a French grand opera twist (e.g., Don Carlos); and operas based on Shakespeare. Between his third and fourth phases, he tried to retire from writing operas around 1870. During his “retirement,” he wrote his most important sacred piece, his Requiem. He single-handedly transformed Italian opera from a number-based, aria-centric style to a more continuous, naturally flowing style that allowed characters to be more natural and realistic in their demeanor, actions, and influence on storylines.

The eventual inspiration for Verdi to compose a complete requiem was the death of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist Verdi knew and admired. Verdi’s Requiem was premiered on May 22, 1874, in the church of San Marco in Milan, to mark the first anniversary of Manzoni’s death, and as a result, the piece is sometimes referred to as the Manzoni Requiem. It consists of seven larger movements, with some, especially the Dies Irae, having many internal sections as the text expresses different aspects of death and salvation. The first movement begins ominously, despondently. Later it becomes almost conciliatory, even resolute. This gives way to a dramatic outcry for mercy in the Kyrie, first from each soloist, and then the chorus joins, with increasing intensity as all ask for mercy. This movement ends quietly, personally. Verdi chose to skip the Graduale movement from the traditional requiem mass, normally expressing more appeals for peace and forgiveness, and moves directly to the Dies Irae (The Day of Wrath).

This movement is the longest and most dramatic of the entire piece. Verdi divides the text into nine sections, which describe the Day of Judgment and what will happen as people will be saved or sent to hell based on their earthly lives. As might be expected, this movement offers a major opportunity for operatic pacing. First, the world seems to explode with the arrival of the Dies Irae text—clearly, this day will not be pleasant. At the Tuba mirum, the trumpet sounds the Day of Judgment, beginning quietly, ominously, and then building to a loud fanfare, including four off-stage trumpets (making a total of eight!). The fear of judgment is palpable as the chorus virtually shouts about what will happen on that day. Liber scriptus describes what will happen when the book of record is brought forward for reading the story of one’s life. Quid sum miser asks the question “Why am I so miserable?” Perhaps it is the fear of how one’s life will be perceived. Rex tremendae begins with a loud introduction, followed by all the majesty deserving of a king who is also the source of mercy to those who are unworthy. Recordare offers more pleading to Christ, asking him to remember how one followed Him in life. Ingemisco expresses guilt of a sinful life and offers more pleading for mercy. Confutatis describes how the wicked will be rebuked, and a humble appeal is made for healing and salvation. Finally, Lacrimosa expresses profound sadness. The music in this movement is equal to any opera he ever wrote.

The next movement, the Offertory (Domine Jesu Christe) is a general appeal for salvation, a sort of summary of past individual circumstances and an offering of one’s life to Christ. There also is an urgent appeal to God regarding promises made to Abraham, in hopes that others will receive the same promises. After humble offerings of praise, this movement also ends quietly. The next movement, Sanctus, is short and celebratory in nature, befitting its text of praises, with active fanfare-like figures in both orchestra and chorus.

Agnus Dei begins with a poignant unison with soloists and then chorus as the granting of rest is requested for all. As the movement moves forward, it takes on a more pleading character, but it is always peaceful and humble. Lux aeterna (Everlasting Light) has a “heavenly” beginning, full of optimism and beauty, contrasted by a dark reminder with the re-entry of the Requiem text. These moods alternate to the end.

Finally, Libera me begins insistently, asking for one’s soul to be freed. This continues with increasing intensity, reflecting the hopes and fears associated with deliverance, wrath, misery, calamity, etc. on the Day of Judgment, highlighted by a short reiteration of the frightening Dies Irae music. Requiem text is then used again, peacefully. The Libera me text then returns with the same increasing intensity and a concluding fugue. The work finally ends as it began—quietly, ominously, but listeners are left with some hope and peace as the piece ends in a major key.

Those familiar with Verdi’s operas will recognize many of his style traits present in this work. There is something a little different, however, in the level of expression in the Requiem. Perhaps there is a personal side that pushes the emotions deeper, or an element of fear that seems more real because it is based on a very different storyline. The Requiem was an immediate success in Italy and other places but was not universally acclaimed right away. It later disappeared from the standard choral repertoire but reappeared in the mid-20th century and is now a staple of orchestral and choral concert series.

Murry Sidlin, a conductor with a unique gift for engaging audiences, continues a diverse and distinctive musical career. He is the president and creative director of The Defiant Requiem Foundation, an organization that sponsors live concert performances of Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín and Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezín Composer; as well as other projects including the documentary film, Defiant Requiem; a new docudrama called Mass Appeal, 1943, which was premiered in June 2017; and The Rafael Schächter Institute for Arts and Humanities at Terezín. In addition, he lectures extensively on the arts and humanities as practiced by the prisoners in the Theresienstadt (Terezín) Concentration Camp.

Mr. Sidlin began his career as assistant conductor of the Baltimore Symphony under Sergiu Comissiona and then was appointed resident conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra by Antal Doráti. He has served as music director of the New Haven and Long Beach (California) Symphonies, the Tulsa Philharmonic, and the Connecticut Ballet. For eight years he was resident conductor of the Oregon Symphony, and, from 2002 to 2010, he served as Dean of the School of Music at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Murry Sidlin was principal guest conductor of the Gävleborgs Symfoniorkester in Sweden and was artistic director of the Cascade Festival of Music in Bend, Oregon for twelve summers. He has conducted more than 300 concerts with the San Diego Symphony, and, on December 31, 2011, conducted his 18th consecutive New Year’s Eve Gala at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC with the National Symphony Orchestra. The summer of 2011 marked Mr. Sidlin’s 33rd year as resident artist/teacher and associate director of conducting studies at the Aspen Music Festival where, with conductor David Zinman, he developed the American Academy of Conducting. Murry Sidlin has also appeared as guest conductor around the world. In the U.S. he has conducted the Atlanta, New Mexico, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and St. Louis Symphony Orchestras; the Colorado, Honolulu, Houston, San Antonio, San Francisco, and Utah Symphonies; the Florida and Minnesota Orchestras; the Chicago Philharmonic; and the Boston Pops. In Canada he has led orchestras in Edmonton, Quebec, Vancouver, and Victoria. Foreign orchestras Murry Sidlin has worked with include the Czech National, Iceland, Jerusalem, Lithuanian National, MAV (Budapest), and Spanish Radio and Television (Madrid) Symphony Orchestras; the George Enescu Philharmonic; the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra; I Solisti Veneti; the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin; the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra; the Orquestra Gulbenkian (Lisbon); and the Orchester Wiener Akademie, among many others.

While with the Oregon Symphony, Murry Sidlin created the nationally recognized Nerve Endings series. This series featured innovative concerts designed to attract and engage new audiences and expand the traditional role of the symphony orchestra. Each program was designed, written, and conducted by Mr. Sidlin. Nerve Endings attracted hundreds of new subscribers each season. Among the most popular of the more than 25 creative programs were: Sigmund Freud and the Dreams of Gustav Mahler, From Lenny to Maestro, The Anatomy of the 9th, Aaron Copland’s America, Russian David/Soviet Goliath (Shostakovich vs. Stalin), Shadows and Voices: The Last Days of Tchaikovsky, and Do the Tango and Get Arrested.

In April of 2002 Murry Sidlin presented the first performances of Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín in Portland, Oregon. Since the premiere, he has led nearly fifty performances. On three occasions – in May 2006, May 2009, and June 2009 – Mr. Sidlin has led performances in the Czech town of Terezín, the site of the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp. The June 2009 performance served as the conclusion to the multi-national Holocaust Era Assets conference attended by nearly 600 delegates from 47 nations and hosted by the Czech government and the Forum 2000 Foundation. On May 9, 2010, Defiant Requiem was presented to an audience of 5,000 people in Budapest, Hungary and broadcast live on Duna Television throughout Eastern Europe. Defiant Requiem was performed in Jerusalem on May 31, 2012, with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Kühn Choir of Prague, by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus on October 11, 2012, and at the Konzerthaus Berlin on March 4, 2014. Performances have also been given at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, Symphony Center in Chicago, and Boston Symphony Hall, among many others. On December 3, 2017, a new version of Defiant Requiem – for chorus, soloists, single piano, and violin – was premiered at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Sidlin’s newest concert-drama, Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezín Composer, was premiered at the Municipal Riding School in Terezín on May 17, 2015. Hours of Freedom received its New York City premiere on May 5, 2016, and its Jerusalem premiere on June 2, 2016, as part of the Israel Festival. Showcasing music by fifteen composers imprisoned in the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp (Terezín) during World War II, this program highlights compositions by Viktor Ullmann, Gideon Klein, Zikmund Schul, Pavel Haas, Rudolf Karel, and ten others. Aware that their lives were fragile, and that deportations to the east were a constant reality, Hours of Freedom explores the need to create new music as affirmation of a future.

In 1987, Murry Sidlin collaborated with the celebrated American composer Aaron Copland to orchestrate a new chamber ensemble version of Copland’s full-length opera The Tender Land. Later, he created a suite from the opera to serve as a companion work to Copland’s chamber version of Appalachian Spring. Mr. Sidlin has performed the chamber ensemble version of The Tender Land over 200 times and has also recorded both the full-length opera and the suite for KOCH International. For the same label, he recorded Piazzolla’s tango opera Maria de Buenos Aires with the Third Angle New Music Ensemble.

Murry Sidlin studied with the legendary pedagogues Leon Barzin and Sergiu Celibidache. He was appointed by Presidents Ford and Carter to serve on the White House Commission of Presidential Scholars. He won national acclaim for the television series Music Is…, a ten-part series about music for children that was seen on PBS for five years. In 1997, the National Association of Independent Schools of Music recognized Mr. Sidlin as Educator of the Year. He has been featured on NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, and CBS Sunday Morning. Most recently he was asked to appear on CNN International to speak about Defiant Requiem. In May of 2011 Mr. Sidlin received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from his alma mater the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. The award honors alumni who have typified the Johns Hopkins tradition of excellence and brought credit to the University by their personal accomplishments, professional achievement, and humanitarian service. In September of 2011, the Archbishop of Prague presented him with the medal of St. Agnes of Bohemia for his dedication to illuminating the legacy of Terezín. In January 2013, Mr. Sidlin was nominated to the International Board of Governors of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. Murry Sidlin received the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Medal of Valor on June 11, 2013, for his extraordinary efforts to keep alive the memory of Rafael Schächter.

(Spring 2019)