Verdi's Requiem Gets Staged Production in Ostrava Debut

The National Moravian-Silesian Theatre will stage Verdi's "Messa da Requiem" for the first time in its history on Oct. 15 and 17, 2026, at the Antonín Dvořák Theatre in Ostrava.

Rather than a concert performance, the company will present the work as a staged production created by the directing duo SKUTR — Martin Kukučka and Lukáš Trpišovský. The theatre announced the project with a full run stretching well beyond the premiere: 14 additional performances are scheduled from Oct. 21, 2026 through June 5, 2027.

Who conducts and who sings?

Marek Šedivý and Filip Urban will conduct two alternating casts. The vocal soloists include:

• Sopranos: Eliška Gattringerová and Veronika Rovná
• Mezzo-sopranos: Bella Adamova and Kateřina Jalovcová
• Tenors: Luciano Mastro and Raman Hasymau
• Basses: Martin Gurbaľ and Josef Kovačič

What does the production mean for the company?

The theatre positions the new Requiem as a deliberate dramaturgical counterweight. According to the announcement, the production will form a striking dramaturgical counterpart to the opening of the previous season.

NDM Intendant Jiří Nekvasil framed the work's unusual status between genres in a statement: "Verdi's Requiem brings the dramatic force of opera to the Latin Mass for the Dead, occupying a distinctive space between sacred music and music theatre. It is not an opera, yet it unmistakably reveals Verdi as an essentially operatic composer."

That dual identity lies at the heart of the staging decision. By handing the score to theatre directors rather than presenting it in concert form, the Ostrava company treats the Requiem as music drama — a reading Nekvasil's comments explicitly endorse.

The engagement also signals the scale of the undertaking: sixteen performances across a full season, two conducting teams and eight soloists for a work the company has never before programmed. The Oct. 15, 2026 premiere at the Antonín Dvořák Theatre will show whether SKUTR's staging can sustain that ambition through June 2027.