(Credit: MERRI CYR)

On June 28, Riccardo Frizza will conduct the Donizetti Festival Orchestra and Chorus in Donizetti’s Requiem at the Cimitero monumentale di Bergamo in Italy.

The performance, which will be dedicated to all the victims of the Coronavirus, will star Eleonora Buratto, Annalisa Stroppa, Piero Pretti, and Alex Esposito. Alberto Tartari is the chorus master.

In a statement, Frizza noted that all four singers live in the Territory. He said, “the evocative power of music will help to celebrate this community ceremony” which will mean the re-start of the city’s cultural activity. “Before organizing any artistic initiative, something that is deeply rooted in our culture, we consider it necessary to give homage to the victims and to the communal suffering that we have all felt, having lost so many loved ones. For an event of these characteristics, Donizetti’s Requiem is the most fitting choice. It will be performed by musicians related to the Donizetti Festival with the blessing of the cities of Bergamo and Brescia, who we would like to thank by accepting a token fee.”

Bergamo’s Mayor Giorgio Gori announced the news and said that 243 leaders from the provinces of Bergamo will attend the performance and Gori also invited President Sergio Mattarella.

Gori also announced that the performance will likely be broadcast on TV and later performed in Brescia.

Italy was one of the worst-hit countries in Europe by the Coronavirus. The Teatro alla Scala recently announced it will also dedicate a concert to the victims of the Coronavirus with Verdi’s Requiem.