The “Messa da Requiem”, dedicated to the Italian poet Alessandro Manzoni, occupies a unique position among Verdi’s compositions, since church music, with a few exceptions, hardly plays a role in his oeuvre. Although it was unnecessary in Verdi’s eyes to add yet another funeral mass to the many that already existed, he felt a desire to create a compositional memorial to honor an artistically significant Italian personality. Landesjugendchor Sachsen together with amici musicae, Leipzig and Jugendsinfonieorchester Leipzig, conducted by Ron-Dirk Entleutner perform brilliantly