An opera disguised as church music, or a work for liturgical use? In the case of the Verdi Requiem, this debate is as old as the composition itself – which in no way belittles this exceptional mass for the dead. It was presumably the dramatic, indeed theatrical, passages from the pen of the brilliant opera composer that contemporaries took exception to. The most vivid example is the turbulent »Dies irae«, where four trumpets heard from afar herald the Last Judgement. Teodor Currentzis knows his way around the dark side of theatre and opera: he was feted for his recordings of Mozart's »Le nozze di Figaro«, »Così fan tutte« and »Don Giovanni«, while the magazine »Opernwelt« voted him Conductor of the Year for his recording of Verdi's »Macbeth«. »Non-conformist, eccentric and talented« – thus one reviewer about the Greek-Russian conductor, who will be making no fewer than seven appearances at the Elbphilharmonie in the 2018/19 season. read less