*Run time is approximate*

Originally performed at La Scala in 1967 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Toscanini’s death, this production with the orchestra and chorus of the Teatro alla Scala was presented in Moscow, Montreal, and New York, in addition to Milan. Recorded on film (35mm) in 1967, it is one of Karajan’s earliest film productions (and his first color film); it reflects his innovativeness, especially in his choice of Henri-Georges Clouzot as director, the French creator of classic films noirs such as Quai des Orfèvres and Wages of Fear. Together with Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Verdi’s Requiem ranks as one of the two supreme achievements in 19th-century liturgical music, a dramatic and emotional––though not theatrical––work. A work of awesome grandeur, it projects a compelling sincerity and honesty.