Paul McCreesh conducts Mozart, Haydn and Cherubini

Cherubini: Haydn fan and model for Beethoven

It would have been almost impossible for Luigi Cherubini to end up in the forgotten book of music history forever. He owes that he made a comeback in the second half of the twentieth century to Maria Callas, who revived his opera Medea, and to conductor Riccardo Muti, who worked tirelessly for his major choral works. Cherubini was born four years after Mozart, outlived both Mozart and Haydn and was highly regarded by Beethoven, who considered him the greatest composer of his time. His Requiem in C minor was the model for Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. Cherubini adored Joseph Haydn so much that in 1805 – four years early – he dedicated a Chant sur la mort de Haydn to his idol.

Cherubini's Requiem for Louis XVI

Italian by birth, Cherubini acquired an almost papal status in Parisian musical life between 1787 and his death in 1842. He was highly adept politically and wrote hymns to the revolution as easily as this impressive Requiem for the commemoration of the beheading of Louis XVI.