Married by the abbot, and future cardinal, Charles Mermillod in the modest church of Collonges-sous-Salève in 1859 at the gates of Geneva, Giuseppe Verdi was nonetheless a nonbeliever to the great regret of his wife, the singer Giuseppina Strepponi. Religion is of course present in several of his operas, but it was Rossini's death that was to trigger the creative process of his Requiem, created as a double homage to the deceased composer and to the poet Alessandro Manzoni, the immortal author of I Promessi sposi (The Betrothed). Much has been said about the theatrical and spectacular aspect of the work evoking the drama of man in the face of death. Freed from any libretto to respect, Verdi lets loose in this splendid work where his musical imagination ignites. His perfect knowledge of the human voice is put to the service of an intense and sincere expression in all its purity. The ensembles and the writing for the choir are particularly meticulous. Both grandiose and intimate, Verdi's Requiem is above all steeped in humanity.