Kozłowski: Requiem

REQUIEM FOR A NATION

The Singapore Symphony and its music director Hans Graf present a recording of Józef Kozłowski’s Requiem, together with the Singapore Symphony Chorus & Youth Choir, as well as a quartet of outstanding soloists: Olga Peretyatko (soprano), Olesya Petrova (mezzo-soprano), Boris Stepanov (tenor) and Christoph Seidl (bass). The Requiem (1798) was commissioned to Kozłowski by the abdicated King Stanisław of Poland, and can be perceived as a requiem not just for the monarch, but for the entire Polish nation, absorbed by the Russian state during the 1780s. Interestingly, the work was also heard during the funeral of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, in a different version with heavier orchestration and choruses for more drama. The current recording uses a new edition created by conductor Graf himself, realizing the intimate character of the original 1798 version. Composed just 7 years after Mozart’s famous Requiem, the work is rooted in Viennese Classicism, yet also adumbrates nineteenth-century developments, with a subtle Slavonic tinge. This revival is a gem to anyone interested in music from the early Romantic era.       

Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Singapore Symphony Chorus
Singapore Symphony Youth Choir
Hans Graf, conductor
Olga Peretyatko, soprano
Olesya Petrova, mezzo-soprano
Boris Stepanov, tenor
Christoph Seidl, bass
Eudenice Palaruan, Choral Director
Wong Lai Foon, Choirmaster

Release Date: 19-04-2024
Pentatone Records PTC 5187125
Total Playing Time: 49'17

For sample tracks, visit https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/kozlowski-requiem/