The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is to celebrate Verdi’s 200th birthday on October 10 this year, by streaming a performance of the Requiem online for free. The sold-out concert, taking place at Symphony Center in Chicago, will be conducted by CSO music director Riccardo Muti, and will feature the Chicago Symphony Chorus and soprano Tatiana Serjan, mezzo-soprano Daniela Barcellona, tenor Mario Zeffiri, and bass Ildar Abdrazakov. The performance will also be shown on the new, high-tech LED screen at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, where it will be carried live by satellite.

‘Giuseppe Verdi was a composer who in his music expressed the most essential feelings of mankind: love, hate, friendship, jealousy — everything that reflects our life, our way of being human,’ said Muti. ‘His music is the mirror of who we are.’

The Requiem performance can be viewed live online at 7.30pm Central Daylight Time on October 10, 2013 (1.30am, October 11, BST) at CSO.org/Verdi, RiccardoMutiMusic.com and facebook.com/ChicagoSymphony.

Muti and the Chicago Symphony released a recording of the Requiem on CSO-Resound in 2010, which was awarded two Grammy Awards.