Opera Tickets Italy

Venice's Teatro Malibran welcomes the esteemed La Fenice Choir for a performance of Petite Messe Solennelle, Gioachino Rossini's musical setting for the Catholic mass. Scored for vocal soloists and a choir, accompanied by two pianos and a harmonium, the work is often translated as Little Solemn Mass in English-speaking countries. This performance of it gives audiences the chance to experience its full beauty in the refined surroundings of one of Venice's most distinguished theatres.

Rossini composed Petite Messe Solennelle in 1863. The composer had effectively retired to the French capital some years before writing his final widely acknowledged masterpiece, hence its first performance on 14 March 1864 in Paris. This took place at the home of Count Alexis Pillet-Will during a private gathering for the dedication of a new chapel there. Rossini was tempted to take up composing again by what he referred to the péchés de vieillesse - the sins of old age. He didn't stop there either. Into his seventies by the time it premiered, Rossini would later go on to adapt the piece, fearing others would not orchestrate it in the way he would like.

This concert at the Malibran Theatre presents Rossini's original choral work, not the later orchestrated version. After such a long and successful career in music, the composer was very aware of the long tradition of musical mass settings that had gone before. Predecessors, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, had all made their distinctive contributions to the genre in their own ways and Rossini was cleverly able to blend the musical styles of previous Baroque and Classical traditions with his own, more Romantic style. Throughout, Rossini's skill with choral composition and his mastery of melodic flow are evident with touches of operatic drama here and there that add to the expressiveness of the piece. Indeed, in parts, the Petite Messe Solennelle can sound like an aria or an ensemble number drawn from an opera rather than a piece of traditional sacred music. Despite the distinct musical qualities of the work, Rossini always treats the source text with the reverence it deserves.

The talented La Fenice Choir is an ensemble whose members are carefully selected by an international audition process. The choir is often used for the city's opera season, run by the Foundation which manages both the Malibran Theatre and the La Fenice Opera House, but it also performs a repertoire of sacred, symphonic and chamber music today both in Italy and overseas. This rendition of Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle constitutes a great opportunity to experience the choir's splendid performance style in its home city of Venice in person.