Petite Messe Solennelle Presented by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir

Composed in 1863, the Petite Messe Solennelle was one of the last works written by Gioachino Rossini. Rossini, best known for his comic operas written earlier in his life, described the work as “The last mortal sin of my old age.” He later wrote an orchestration for choir, organ and piano.

On February 9th the full Toronto Mendelssohn Choir will perform Petite Messe Solennelle. They will be joined by James Bourne on piano, Andrew Adair on organ, and soloists Lesley Bouza, soprano; Jennifer Enns Modolo, mezzo soprano; Charles Davidson, tenor; and Michael York, baritone.

TMC founder and conductor Noel Edison spoke to Bill Anderson about this upcoming performance. During their talk, Edison described what made this piece special:

“…his reluctance  to be sacred while being very sacred at the same time. The Rossini idiom of his great melodic writing is so much in play there. There’s a great swath of solo writing in the glorious and this absolutely glorious vocal writing.”

Listen to their entire interview below.

The afternoon concert takes place on February 9 at 3pm at the magnificent Yorkminster Park Baptist Church. the For tickets and more information, visit tmchoir.org.

If you’re unable to attend, the concert will also be webcast live on the TMC website at 3pm (UTC -5). The webcast will be Adobe Flash and iPhone and iPad compatible. Sign up to watch the webcast.