Master Singers approach Requiem on devotional terms

...[M]usic director Alan Heatherington led the Chicago Master Singers, Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra and a quartet of vocal solists in a sensitive and moving account of the Verdi Requiem celebrating the chorus' 25th anniversary... Without leaning unduly on the score's operatic gestures, Heatherington conveyed much of the spiritual questioning at the heart of the work... From its ethereal entrance to its terrified cries in the section depicting the apocalyptic day of wrath, the 149-voice Chicago Master Singers showed how far it has grown technically and musically since Heatherington took over the group (formerly known as the New Oratorio Singers) in 1989. Blend, intonation and balance were secure, while the "Sanctus" double fugue moved with a becoming lightness and clarity. Concert info…