The King's Consort
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Choir of The King's Consort
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Robert King
conductor
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Lenneke Ruiten
soprano
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Diana Moore
contralto
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Andrew Tortise
tenor
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David Wilson-Johnson
bass
Michael Haydn (1737-1806)
Requiem in C minor MH 155
Wolfgang Amadé Mozart (1756-1791)
Requiem in D minor, K. 626 (Süssmayr version)
Both of them were friends: Wolfgang Amadé Mozart and Michael Haydn, younger brother of the great Joseph Haydn, who was employed as court composer in Mozart’s native Salzburg starting in 1763. Just how loyal a friend Mozart proved to be can be judged from an episode that occurred in the summer of 1783. Michael Haydn had been commissioned to write a series of six duos for violin and viola but was unable to progress beyond the fourth on account of illness. Without hesitating for a moment, Mozart stepped in to solve the problem and composed the missing pieces immediately; he even let Haydn present them as his own compositions. And Mozart also had a close musical as well as personal connection to the so-called “Salzburg Haydn,” as seen in his final work, the unfinished Requiem. Its formal structure, along with many specific details, is modeled on the C minor Requiem by Michael Haydn. Robert King and his ensemble offer the rare opportunity to hear both works juxtaposed side by side in what promises to be a remarkable musical experience.