The Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre will present Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem on January 27, 2022.

Day of grief and hope - January 27 - bears two meanings for the people of Russia. This is not only the date of the lifting of the blockade of Leningrad (1944) but also the  International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorating the victims of the genocide of the Jewish people by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. On January 27, 1945, the liberating of the Auschwitz concentration camp began. Thus, one day a year apart connected the largest humanitarian catastrophes of the 20th century. The performance of Verdi's tragic piece will be dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust.

The theatre team decided to take on this work in order to remind us about the historical truth.

“Genocide, the slave trade, the taking of civilians as hostages, the scorched earth tactics, the building of death camps: all these crimes against humanity were examined in detail and described in Nuremberg by judges from the USSR, USA, Great Britain, and France. Back then - 76 years ago - the recording of the atrocities of the Nazis was carried out for the sake of the chief thing: to prevent anything like this in the future. The Day of Remembrance of those events called the Holocaust (from the Greek “burnt offering”) is a lesson everyone ought to allow time to learn,” said Sergei Novikov, stage director of the event, head of the Presidential Administration for Public Projects, diploma winner of the 2nd International Young Opera Directors Competition Nano-Opera.

The Krasnoyarsk version of Verdi's Requiem, this grandiose work for soloists, chorus, and orchestra is as close to the Russian listeners as possible. The Latin text of the Catholic funeral mass has been translated into Russian. A stunning fusion of music, vocals, text, and visual content will make the work a relevant and emotionally powerful tool of patriotic education.