Mass with a touch of operatic flair, as Vancouver Bach Choir takes on Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, May 14
Better known for works like Barber of Seville, the composer penned a famous mass
The Vancouver Bach Choir gives voice to an opera composer this weekend.
Vancouver Bach Choir presents Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle on May 14 at 7:30 pm at the Vancouver Playhouse
IT’S TRUE THAT Gioachino Rossini was most famous as an opera composer—penning some 38 such works, although probably only Barber of Seville and Ceneterola pop to mind.
But later in life, after retiring from opera, Rossini penned a mass—the Petite Messe Solennelle—a piece, it’s sometimes joked, that is too epic to be called “petite” and not solemn enough to be described as “solennelle”. It is pious and solumn, but the choral work that Vancouver Bach Choir tackles this weekend bears notable moments of uplift, and more than a little operatic flair.
Under the baton of Leslie Dala, the performance features Tina Chang on harmonium and Perri Lo on piano, with soprano Jonelle Sills, mezzo Hillary Tufford, tenor Ian Cleary, and baritone Luka Kawabata.
In other words, it's a chance for opera fans to hear Rossini in a new way, and for choral fans to hear a mass by a composer outside classical giants like Handel and Bach.
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