It is often said that the Requiem is Verdi’s most beautiful opera, even though it was based on a religious text and written in memory of a real person. Initially, several composers planned to collaborate on a funeral mass in memory of Rossini, but this project ultimately failed. Verdi had written a single movement for the funeral mass, from which he later developed the entire opera, in memory of the famous Italian writer and patriot Alessandro Manzioni. It premiered in 1874 in Milan. Verdi, the great master of expressing passion, grief and joy through music, uses his entire armory of tools to portray the spiritual condition of a person who, in preparation for death, is afraid, and yet filled with hope of redemption. It is a unique, dazzling masterpiece which, even after hearing it many times, the listener cannot shake. The appeal of this concert is only enhanced by the conductor, Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, who decades ago was the principal conductor of the Hungarian National Philharmonic. He has conducted several unforgettable performances of the Requiem for our enjoyment.