Missa defunctorum
Requiem for four solo voices, double chorus and orchestra, 1789/1799
GIOVANNI PAISIELLO Missa defunctorum
Print programme (PDF)
Giovanni Paisiello (1740–1816) studied at the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio a Capuana, at which he was later to become a teacher himself. He quickly made a name for himself as an opera composer, far beyond the Italian borders. In 1776, he was appointed court music director in St. Petersburg; from 1783 onwards, he held leading musical positions at the court of Naples. He spent 1802 and 1803 in Paris. Paisiello, who divided his work between operas and particularly sacred works, spent the following years in Naples, where he died in 1816.