To end the season, Eugene Concert Choir goes big.

Byline: Fred Crafts The Register-Guard

Of all the world's choral masterpieces, the one that puts Eugene Concert Choir conductor Diane Retallack in heaven is Guiseppe Verdi's Requiem.

"It's the kind of profound experience that makes life worth living," Retallack says. "It's deeply moving in every way."

Which is why she chose it to close the Eugene Concert Choir's 2003-04 season at the Hult Center on May 8.

A monumental work first performed in 1874, the Requiem is, according to Retallack, "probably the most dramatic of all requiem masses."

It's origin is in itself dramatic.

Saddened by the death of the revered opera composer Gioacchino Rossini, Verdi led a collaborative effort in 1868 to get a number of composers to write sections of a requiem (Messa per Rossini) in Rossini's honor on the anniversary of his death.

Verdi himself wrote the "Libera me" movement. Unfortunately, the work was never performed in his lifetime.

Verdi toyed with writing a requiem for the next five years. When the author Allessandro Manzoni died in 1873, Verdi found his chance. He was so moved that he composed a Requiem Mass for the one-year anniversary of Manzoni's death. In the process, he resurrected the "Libera me" section and various sketches, along with new material.

The first performance - at the Church of San Marco in Milan on May 22, 1874 - was highly successful.

Many thought its lyrical themes and powerful palette was more suited to the opera house - some singers refer to the work as Verdi's greatest opera - and it was done several times at La Scala.

If thought of as an opera, then the Requiem comes after he wrote "La Traviata," "Rigoletto" and "Aida" and before he would do "Othello" and "Falstaff."

But it is not an opera; it is a Catholic requiem mass, with rambunctious orchestrations and virtuosic choral passages.

The choir gets a severe workout, challenged by several grand fugues, odd mumblings and lyrical a cappella passages.

"The soaring romantic melodies bring us through a full range of emotions, from exhilaration to heartwrenching despair," she says.

"The demands placed on the quartet of soloists are equal to the most challenging of his operas."

It is, after all, Romantic music, written by a master opera composer who knew how to dress a good tune.

"This is the kind of music where you walk out of the concert hall with music flowing through your mind. You can sing them for weeks afterwards," Retallack says.

The concert is dedicated to all those who have lost their lives in Iraq.

To do an oversized work like this requires larger-than-life forces. Retallack has expanded the chorus to 130 voices and enlarged the Oregon Mozart Players to 60 musicians. And she hired four world-class soloists:

Kelley Nassief, soprano, has sung with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Virginia Dupuy, mezzo-soprano, is an associate professor on the music faculty at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Yeghishe Manucharyan, tenor, is a Russian who has recently performed at Carnegie Hall.

Kevin Maynor, bass, is a Fulbright Award winner who has recently sung with Minnesota Opera and Pacific Opera Victoria.

Retallack says that it would be impossible to get soloists of this caliber were it not for a generous grant from the Hult Endowment of the Arts Foundation of Western Oregon Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation. The concert, she says, will cost about $80,000, a sizable chunk of the choir's annual budget of $200,000.

Retallack grows pensive when she considers performing the Verdi Requiem: "I didn't think I would ever have the opportunity in my life to conduct this work."

Why not?

"It's very large," she explains. "It costs a lot of money. It takes huge forces. It takes very skilled forces in every aspect. The orchestra writing is virtuosic. The demands on the chorus are extreme."

Retallack sees the performance as an indication of how much her choir has grown.

"The Eugene Concert Choir has developed into a chorus that has reached a level where it can do a stellar job on a work of this magnitude. I couldn't say that 20 years ago" she says.

As further proof of her organization's growth, she points out that ``there aren't that many choirs across the nation who can hire an orchestra. It's usually the other way around. We're very proud of that.''

``Doing the Verdi Requiem goes way beyond being a nice experience. It's profound. It's like giving birth.''

CONCERT PREVIEW

Eugene Concert Choir

What: Eugene Concert Choir with soloists Kelley Nassief, Virginia Dupuy, Yeghishe Manucharyan, Kevin Maynor sing Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Where: The Hult Center, Seventh Avenue and Willamette Street

How much: $14-$26, at the Hult Center box office, 682-5000