Verdi's Requiem Mass is seldom heard: its surcharged score demands too much verve and skill for all but the best orchestras and the most courageous conductors. But last week, in Fort Wayne, Ind., an amateur orchestra and chorus carried it off in fine style.
The man who lifted Fort Wayne to the occasion was 39-year-old Hans Schwieger (rhymes with eager), a broad and tall German refugee. His 89-piece orchestra of teachers, factory workers, salesmen, engineers, bank clerks and housewives had been eked out with 16 recruits from Chicago's Symphony Orchestra and rehearsed to professional pitch.
In beginning life again in Fort Wayne, Schwieger...
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