MOZART'S REQUIEM with tenor ŞTEFAN von KORCH

"Dumitru Farcas" Student Cultural Center Cluj Napoca

October 30, 2027, 7:00 PM

MOZART'S REQUIEM with tenor ŞTEFAN von KORCH in the solo line on October 30, 2027, at the Student Cultural Center in Cluj-Napoca

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem, one of the most impressive masterpieces of universal sacred music, will resonate on October 30, 2027, starting at 7:00 PM, at the Student Cultural Center in Cluj-Napoca, in a special event performance, part of the Musical Extravaganza season, artistically coordinated by tenor Ștefan von Korch. In the solo line, tenor Ştefan von Korch will be joined by bass Levente Gyoergy.

„271 years after the birth of the genius Mozart and on the eve of All Souls' Day, the holiday when Transylvanians remember those who have passed away, the concert gains a special spiritual significance, with music becoming the bridge between suffering and the hope of salvation. explains tenor Ștefan von Korch

In Catholic tradition, the Requiem is the liturgy celebrated for the rest of the souls of the deceased. It is a prayer for eternal peace, for forgiveness, and for the passage beyond earthly existence. Mozart, the child prodigy of Viennese music, transformed this sacred form into a musical experience of overwhelming intensity. However, the Requiem is not just music of the end. It is, above all, music of hope, of faith, and of the light that is born from darkness.

The most intense movements of the work are: „Dies Irae", in which the day of judgment is evoked through the dramatic force of the choir and orchestra, „Tuba Mirum", the solemn call of the trombone announcing man's confrontation with eternity, „Rex Tremendae", in which fear intertwines with supplication, and „Lacrimosa" in which sorrow finds one of the most moving expressions in the entire history of music, because it is precisely in this last movement, „Lacrimosa", that Mozart's manuscript breaks off after the first eight measures of the vocal and orchestral part, a detail that amplifies the symbolism of a creation left suspended between life and death.

The presentation of this masterpiece in Cluj-Napoca, on October 30, 2027, takes on a special significance due to its proximity to Luminație, a tradition deeply rooted in the spirituality of Transylvania. It is the period when families reunite in memory of the departed, cemeteries fill with flowers and candles, and silence becomes a form of communion with those who are no longer with us.

„In this context, Mozart's Requiem transcends the boundaries of a simple classical music concert and becomes an invitation to reflect on the fragility of life, love, loss, and the things that remain beyond time." points out tenor Ştefan von Korch

### About the protagonists:

** Ştefan von Korch – Tenor, host soloist  *

Tenor Ştefan von Korch, whose voice is recognized for the part in Carmina Burana, but also for the roles in "I Puritani," "The Barber of Seville," "Rigoletto" or "The Elixir of Love," is the host soloist and artistic coordinator of the Musical Extravaganza season, a pioneering cultural project that brings opera and operetta closer to the public, held monthly in the capital, with extensions on the stages of the Philharmonic Orchestras of Brașov, Pitești, Sibiu, Craiova. 

 With a dynamic presence in the national cultural life and beyond,  Ștefan von Korch  opened this autumn the seasons of the Philharmonic Orchestras in Satu Mare and Târgu Mureș with his signature work, "Carmina Burana," returned to the stage of the National Theatre in Bucharest in the concert "Duel of the Tenors," and was a soloist in Rossini's Stabat Mater at the National Opera in Iași, where he was also present at the beginning of the year, in "The Merry Widow 2.0," directed by Andrei Șerban.

In 2025, he was the only Romanian soloist in the highly traditional concerts "Los Tres Tenores," in Central America, alongside soloists from Spain and Honduras, debuted at the Romanian Athenaeum in "Concert at the Imperial Court," opened the Arad Philharmonic season with "Carmina Burana," his "signature" work, with which he also started the year on the stage of the Transilvania State Philharmonic.

It is the unmistakable voice for the tenor line in Carmina Burana – a passage at the limit of the male voice's capabilities, which he navigates with overflowing ease. Thanks to his performance style, he has been invited to over 40 performances of Carmina Burana, in Philharmonic Halls and cultural institutions across the country, as well as abroad. In 2024, he had the honor of opening the Palermo Classica Festival with this work, with an acclaimed appearance in both the peninsula's and Romania's press.

 His name is also linked to over 15 performances at the National Opera in Bucharest, where he has been invited over time in "The Barber of Seville," "The Elixir of Love," and "Falstaff," as well as to the national premiere of the opera "I Puritani" by Vicenzo Bellini, one of the highest parts written for the male voice.

 He concluded the year 2024 with notable appearances at the Ion Dacian National Operetta and Musical Theatre, at the Palace Hall, and at the Philharmonic Halls in Târgu-Mureș and Timișoara. 

 In 2023, he was the only Romanian soloist in the China Tour 2023, alongside the Orchestra Reino de Aragon from Spain.

 He delighted the audience with his voice in 3 national premieres: "I Puritani" and "La Sonnambula," both by Vicenzo Bellini, the vocal-symphonic work "Messa di Gloria" by Rossini, as well as the European premiere "Traiano in Dacia."

 Over time, he has performed roles specific to his voice in the very well-known operas: "Rigoletto", "The Barber of Seville", "The Elixir of Love", "Don Pasquale", on the stages of the Operas in Bucharest, Cluj and Iași, and is a constant presence on the stages of national philharmonics, Mozart's "Requiem", Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" and Mendelssohn's "Lobgesang".

Internationally, he has performed at the Metropolitan Concert Hall Tokyo, Zhuhai Opera House, Nanjing Poly Grand Theatre and Chongqing Grand Theatre, Opera Kaiserslautern Germany, Auditorium of Zaragoza, Steri Palace in Palermo, Teatro Verdi Padua Italy, Concert Hall of the Zurich University of Music, National Theatre Bratislava.

 About GYÖRGY LEVENTE bass

Levente Gyoergy, bass-baritone, conductor, double bassist, and organist, with an international career of over 25 years and prodigious activity on both European and national stages, is currently the manager of the Târgu Mureş State Philharmonic.

His repertoire includes over 40 roles from operas and operettas by composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Donizetti, Verdi, Wagner, Smetana, J.Strauss, Offenbach, Puccini, Ravel, Martinu. He also tackles the vocal-symphonic genre, performing important solo roles. He debuted at the Swiss Biel-Solothurn theater, where he was a guest soloist for five years, and between 2011 and 2020, he worked as a soloist at the Theater für Niedersachsen in Hildesheim (Germany).

Starting in 2005, he benefited from a scholarship from Tonkünstlerverein in Lausanne, then becoming the winner of the Migros Kulturprozent singing competition in Zürich for another year of study scholarship. He enjoyed the guidance of masters in the field of lyrical art such as: Nicolai Gedda, Francisco Araiza, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Polgár László, Cornelia Kallisch, Lani Poulson.

From 2011, he perfected his skills in Switzerland as a Pro Basso scholar. As a vocal artist and opera soloist, he trained at institutions such as Hochschule der Künste in Bern (class of Professor Elisabeth Glauser) and Schweizer Operastudio, then at Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Zürich, under the guidance of Marc Kissoczy, he also obtained a diploma in orchestral conducting.

He studied double bass at the "Gheorghe Dima" Music Academy in Cluj (between 1995-2000).

About the season Musical Extravaganza

Chamber concerts aim to offer the public the joy of meeting representative names of the lyrical scene, in a more intimate setting, which offers a different perspective on the artistic act compared to that on the imposing opera stage, but also to bring the classical genre closer to audiences of all ages.  Spectators are invited to admire their favorite soloists in a select atmosphere, complemented by chamber accompaniment, which highlights the performers in a warm and personal light.

The first two seasons of Musical Extravaganza, conducted under the artistic guidance of tenor Ştefan von Korch, included over 20 successful concerts, in which they delighted the audience, together with the host soloist: sopranos Oana Maria Şerban, Cristina Maria Oltean, Daniela Bucşan, tenors George Vîrban, Mihai Urzicana, Andrei Mihalcea, Alin Stoica, baritones Adrian Mărcan and Fang Shuang, pianist Alexandru Burcă, accordionist Emy Drăgoi, pianist Bogdana Cocîrlea, pianist Marius Groza and the Orchestra of the National Theatre of Operetta and Musical Ion Dacian – in salon formation and the Orchestra of the Piteşti Philharmonic – the most avant-garde in the country.

Starting with the 2026 / 2027 season, the Musical Extravaganza season will also bring complete works to the public – the first of which will be the cantata "Carmina Burana", followed by Giuseppe Verdi's Messa da Requiem.

About Mozart's REQUIEM

Mozart's REQUIEM is a masterpiece with a fascinating story, a sacred work with a disturbing tale, in which genius, rivalry, fear of death, and mystery intertwine. "Requiem" is Mozart's very last creation, a work that the composer did not live to finish, music written by a genius haunted by the fear of his own end.

A mysterious messenger, a funeral commission, and the premonition of the end

Legend has it that Mozart, then 35 years old, but already seriously ill, would have received the commission for this work from a mysterious messenger and began to fear the creation he was writing. That he would have had the feeling that the unknown messenger had been sent by his own destiny and that the Requiem was not intended for a stranger, but for his own death.

Historical sources claim that the Requiem had been secretly commissioned by Count Franz von Walsegg, who wished to commemorate the death of his wife. But the historical truth does not diminish the drama of the fact that Mozart died while writing the music intended for a funeral service, and this disturbing coincidence has made the Requiem be perceived, for over two centuries, as his musical and spiritual testament.

The story of the Requiem is inseparable, in the collective imagination, from the name of Antonio Salieri, the Italian composer who became the symbol of the rival consumed by envy of Mozart's genius. The story goes so far as to present Salieri as Mozart's mortal enemy, the man who, unable to accept his rival's brilliance, would have hastened his end. This dramatic version, made famous by the play Amadeus and its film adaptation, is not, however, supported by historical evidence. Nevertheless, it has contributed to the aura of mystery that surrounds the composer's final days.