“Dream Requiem” by Rufus Wainwright – A Contemporary Requiem for Humanity

The renowned Canadian singer and composer Rufus Wainwright and French-Italian actress Chiara Mastroianni will present Dream Requiem on Sunday, March 22 at 20:30, at the Christos Lambrakis Hall of the Megaron – The Athens Concert Hall – a bold, contemporary musical creation that places the human need for solidarity at the heart of a hymn to collective mourning and hope.

Mastroianni, daughter of Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve, makes a rare live appearance in Athens, performing excerpts from Lord Byron’s poem Darkness with her distinctive expressiveness.

Dream Requiem (2024) is an innovative composition based on the Catholic Requiem Mass. Wainwright intertwines the Latin Requiem liturgy with passages from Byron’s Darkness, written in 1816 — the so-called “year without a summer.” At that time, the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia darkened the skies and plunged Europe into an atmosphere of existential uncertainty. Wainwright juxtaposes that apocalyptic sense of darkness with the experience of the recent pandemic, isolation, and the collective grief endured by humanity. Through this historical dialogue, the composer explores how societies confront fear and seek meaning in times of crisis – and how art can become a bridge of solidarity across eras and peoples.

The Greek premiere of the work features American soprano Caitlin Gotimer, the ERT Symphony Orchestra and Choir, the Rosarte Children’s & Youth Choir, and conductor Mikko Franck leading the performance.

With grand forces – symphony orchestra, choirs, soprano, and narrator – and Wainwright himself on stage, the composer crafts a dramatic, multi-layered narrative. Influences from late Romanticism and clear references to Verdi’s musical language lend the work depth and lyrical intensity, while Wainwright’s contemporary aesthetic renders it immediate and strikingly relevant.

A performance in which Lord Byron’s poetry meets Wainwright’s music, bringing to Athens and to the Megaron’s “Spring Festival” one of the most moving works of contemporary creation.