Monday Night at the Opera, May 26, 2025, 7 to 10 p.m. – Memorial Day Program. The Britten War Requiem is a colossal work for orchestra, soloists, and choruses. It was commissioned to open the new Coventry Cathedral in 1962, after Nazi bombs destroyed the 13th century structure. It commemorates the many who lost their lives during conflicts. The work follows the traditional Latin Requiem Mass and is interspersed with the poetry of WWI poet Wilfred Owen. We will hear Richard Hickcox and the London Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, and Chorus featuring soprano Heather Harper, tenor Philip Langridge, and bass John Shirley-Quirk.

In the program’s second half, we go back 200 years for the Dettingen Te Deum composed by George Frideric Handel to celebrate George II’s success in battle. This work celebrated the victory of the British and their Prussian and Austrian allies over the French in the town of Dettingen, Germany. This was the last time a British monarch led troops in a battle.

The painting is by British artist Christopher Nevinson and is titled “Paths of Glory.”