The Alberta Ballet Company presents Mozart’s Requiem playing in Calgary from March 27th to 29th and in Edmonton from April 4th to 5th. Described as “a ballet of strength and spirit”, the Alberta Ballet’s production of Mozart’s last work will capture your imagination through its poetic choreography and extraordinary music.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart created more than 600 compositions and was the most influential composer of the Classical Era. His last and most controversial piece Requiem was composed in 1791 as a request from a nobleman to be played at his deceased wife’s mass. Before completion however, Mozart died of what is thought to be rheumatic fever. Mozart’s colleague, Franz Xaver Sussmayr completed it, therefore causing some argument as to whom Requiem’s composer really was.
It is said that Requiem consumed the remainder of Mozart’s life. Jean Grande-Maitre, Artistic Director of the Alberta Ballet believes that Requiem is a “masterpiece [that] should never be choreographed because [of] its powerful depiction of humanity’s suffering [that] can never be matched”. Nonetheless, choreographer and Ballet Master, Edmund Stipe had done a magnificent compliment to Requiem in what Grand-Maitre considers a ‘dance-concert’.
This performance is not a typical ballet. It is the first collaboration between the Alberta Ballet and the Edmonton Opera, complemented by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, 26 dancers, and four amazing soloists.
The first half of the show is a showcase of how dance and voice can illuminate Mozart’s work. Soloist Angela Welch starts the performance with a hauntingly dynamic recital of Exultate Jubilate K.165. Not only does the audience become engrossed in Welch’s animate vocal range, but the visual depiction of a “journey from darkness to light” foreshadows how lighting plays an integral part in the intent of this performance. This becomes even more apparent as the first set of dancers come on stage and perform to Piano Concerto No.2, Opus 102. As solo dancers, pairs, and groups, these dancers move with the light, showcasing how the fluidity of lightness, darkness, and music evoke emotion.
Mozart’s Requiem aims to evoke a journey for those in the audience, and it does just that. The second half of the show is where the piece shines.
A requiem, in Mozart’s time, was common for masses in the Roman Catholic faith as songs composed to celebrate the dead. However, the title Mozart’s Requiem is an ambiguity for the representations of this performance. Not only does the audience witness a celebration of the life and work of Mozart, they also witness how Mozart’s music would celebrate the lives of others, as was the original plan for this composition.
The dancers are enchanting, and intriguingly realistic. Yukichi Hattori is extraordinary as Mozart. He maneuvers with such grace and mild disproportion that the audience is left wondering how he does it. He is a constant in the second half as a witness, a divinity, and a conductor. The character of Mozart is on the brink of death, as he was while composing Requiem, however he is fighting this impending demise in the performance. He conducts his last work, while fighting the angels of life and death. Mozart is also jumping ahead through time, conducting and witnessing the impact of his composition on future generations faced with impending death, war and poverty.
The camaraderie of voice, instrument, dance, and history are what make Mozart’s Requiem such a memorable and awe-inspiring show. One does not need to be a fan of the arts to appreciate it. What this performance does is engage its audience to ask questions such as: Who was Mozart? Why was this work so important? How does history continue to repeat itself, and why does Requiem depict it so accurately? Become a fan of the ballet, you won’t regret it.
Alberta Ballet presents
Mozart’s Requiem
Calgary: March 27th to 29th
Edmonton: April 4th to 5th
www.albertaballet.com

Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ca