Charles V was certainly the most powerful and charismatic of the Renaissance rulers. Exhausted and worn down by the challenges of imperial rule, he abdicated towards the end of his life and led a secluded existence in the monastery of Cuacos de Yuste in Castile under the motto ‘Ecce elongavi fugiens et mansi in solitudine’ (‘I fled and remained in solitude’).

The Utopia Ensemble seeks out the man behind the monarch and examines the duality of power and greatness as well as solitude in Requiem For An Emperor. Pierre de Manchicourt – court composer to Charles’s son and director of the famous Capilla Flamenca – could well have written his Requiem for one of the countless commemorations of Charles V. It radiates serenity and splendor and is juxtaposed here with chansons that moved the heart beneath Charles’s imperial armor.

Utopia Ensemble
Michaela Riener – Mezzo-Soprano
Bart Uvyn, Countertenor
Adriaan De Koster, Tenor
Lieven Termont, Baritone
Guillaume Olry, Bass
Jan Van Outryve, Lute