The production, which is being performed for the first time in Spain, is a joint commission by several international concert halls, including the Palau de la Música and the Auditori.

In addition to the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya and the Orfeó Català, the concert will also feature the Cor Infantil children’s choir and the soprano Anna Prohaska, under the baton of Ludovic Morlot.

American actress Sharon Stone will provide the narration for the Dream Requiem concert by singer-songwriter and composer Rufus Wainwright, which will be performed by the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC) and the Orfeó Català. The concert will be performed at the Palau de la Música Catalana on 25 January 2025 (Concert Hall, 8 pm, as part of the Palau 100 concert series) under the baton of Ludovic Morlot.

Wainwright’s composition, which is being performed for the first time in Spain, is a joint commission by the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Auditori, and other international concert halls: Orchestre Philharmonique Radio France, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Ballet and Opera in London, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.

The performance of Dream Requiem will also include the Orfeó Català Cor Infantil children's choir, and soprano Anna Prohaska.

Rufus Wainwright himself, who will be in Barcelona to check up on rehearsals at the Auditori, and who will attend the concert at the Palau, praised the collaboration with the actress: “Sharon and I have known each other for a long time. As it could not be otherwise, I have been a fan of hers long before she knew my music. She is one of the most fascinating, brilliant, intelligent and inspiring women I know. I have wanted to collaborate with her for a long time, and having her take on the role of narrator, giving voice to Byron’s poem Darkness about total ecological collapse, with her incisive and moving voice, is a dream come true for me. And for this to happen in Barcelona, one of the cities where I have felt most welcomed as a musician, and at the Palau, which is one of the most beautiful and impressive concert halls in the world, where I recently played my own songs, is the icing on the cake.”

The première of Dream Requiem took place on 14 June at the Auditorium de Radio France in Paris, with a performance by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Chœur et Maîtrise de Radio France, soprano Anna Prohaska and actress Meryl Streep as narrator, under the baton of Mikko Franck. The live concert recording (Warner Classics) will be released on 17 January, 2025. Wainwright's work is expected to be performed at other major international venues, such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles—with narration by actress Jane Fonda—, and at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

About Sharon Stone

Sharon Stone is an internationally recognised actress, artist, producer, humanitarian, and New York Times bestselling author of The Beauty of Living Twice.  

Her best-known performances are for the films Basic Instinct and Casino, for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in 1996 and an Oscar nomination for her leading role opposite Robert de Niro in Martin Scorsese’s crime drama. Stone also received two Golden Globe nominations for her performances in The Mighty (1998) and The Muse (1999). Other highlights from her filmography include Sliver (1993), The Specialist (1994), The Quick and the Dead (1995), Last Dance (1996), Sphere (1998), Broken Flowers (2005), Alpha Dog (2006), Bobby (2006) and Lovelace (2013).  

On television, she has played roles in the Netflix series Ratched (2020), HBO's Mosaic (2017), The New Pope (2019), and The Practice (2004), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.  

Stone has received several other important awards: a Global Citizen of the Year Award from the United Nations, a Nobel Peace Summit Award, the Harvard Foundation’s Humanitarian Award, a Human Rights Campaign Humanitarian Award and the Einstein Spirit Award, among others.  

In addition, Sharon Stone has become a prolific painter. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her three children. 

About Rufus Wainwright

Praised by the «New York Times» for his “genuine originality,” Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of the great male vocalists, songwriters, and musicians of his generation. The New York-born, Montreal-raised singer-songwriter has released ten studio albums to date, three DVDs, and three live albums, including Grammy-nominated Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall. He has collaborated with artists such as Elton John, Burt Bacharach, Miley Cyrus, David Byrne, Boy George, Joni Mitchell, Pet Shop Boys, Heart, Carly Rae Jepsen, Robbie Williams, Jessye Norman, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Sting, and producer Mark Ronson, among many others.

His studio album of original songs Unfollow the Rules, which was nominated for a Grammy in 2020, showcases Wainwright at the height of his career, as he reaches the peak of his artistic powers with passion, honesty, and a new-found courage. In 2023, he journeyed back to his folk family roots in his new Grammy-nominated album, Folkocracy, which includes folk duets reinvented with artists such as Chaka Khan, Brandi Carlile, John Legend, Anohni, and many more.

His first musical, an adaptation of John Cassavetes’ Opening Night for the West End, written alongside Ivo van Hove, premièred at the Gielgud Theatre in March 2024. Throughout this period, he also composed a Requiem that was performed for the first time by the Orchestre Philharmonique de la Radio France in June 2024.

You can download  a photograph of Rufus Wainwright  here © V. Tony Hauser

You can download a photograph of Sharon Stone here © Eric Michael Roy