NDR Radiophilharmonie

The rivalry between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri is legendary. The story of how Salieri was driven by envy to remove the brilliant composer by poisoning him was first brought to life in a verse drama by Alexander Pushkin and later set to music in an opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Whatever the truth or myth behind this theatrical tale, there can be no doubt that Mozart was a remarkable genius. As if to prove a point, the NDR Radiophilharmonie have chosen to play his emotionally powerful Requiem for their Meisterkonzert here at the Staatstheater in Braunschweig. The only question is whether the shivers running down our spines are because we know Mozart died too soon, before he finished the Requiem, or just because it is magnificent music.