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Soprano Gillian Zammit, mezzo soprano Marvic Monreal, tenor Eduardo Hurtado Rampoldi, bass Louis Cassar and the New Choral singers accompanied by Joanne Camilleri on the harpsichord and conducted by Mro. Michael Laus, perform one of Rossini’s last works.
Although he was brought up in the Catholic faith, Rossini was not especially renowned for his religious beliefs, yet his attempts to adapt his instinctively lightweight operatic style to a more profound medium of expression is notable in both his Stabat Mater (1841) and the Petite Messe Solennelle (1863), the latter being scored for the unusual combination of 12 voices, two pianos and a harmonium. Gioachino Rossini‘s Petite messe solennelle (Little solemn Mass) was written in 1863, possibly at the request of Count Alexis Pillet-Will for his wife Louise, to whom it is dedicated. The composer, who had retired from composing operas more than 30 years before, described it as “the last of my péchés de vieillesse” (sins of old age).
The Mass was first performed on 14 March 1864 at the couple’s new home in Paris. Rossini later produced an orchestral version, including an additional movement, a setting of the hymn “O salutaris hostia” as a soprano aria.
