Verdi's Blockbuster

With all the emotion of an opera and the ambition of a master, Verdi's Requiem is truly one of the most unmissable and staggering live performances an orchestra can stage, a sentiment especially true of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, who, under the baton of Muti, have won Grammy Awards for their past efforts.

Considered one of the canon's juggernauts, the work first premiered in 1874 and was dedicated to Verdi's friend, the poet Alessandro Manzoni. Though not immediately popular with audiences who couldn't reconcile the operatic style with the religious subject matter, it has since gone on to become a staple of the chorale canon.