Mixed Choir of Glasbena Matica Ljubljana

Running time: approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes

Soloists: Mojca Bitenc Križaj, soprano; Nuška Drašček, mezzo-soprano; Martin Sušnik, tenor; Domen Križaj, baritone
Harmonium: Tomaž Sevšek
Piano: Andreja Kosmač, Meta Fajdiga

Programme:
Gioachino Rossini, Petite Messe Solennelle 

While Gioachino Rossini gained renown as an innovative and highly successful composer of comic and serious operas, setting new standards in the genre, he also wrote sacred music during his long retirement. One of the most remarkable choral masterpieces of the 19th century, the Petite Messe Solennelle ranks among Rossini's greatest works. Written in his irrepressible operatic spirit, invested with emotional warmth and undisguised romanticism, it demonstrates his flair for beautiful melodies, an unfailing sense of colour and drama, and great contrapuntal skill.

The Petite Messe Solennelle will be yet another notch in the proverbial belt of musical accomplishments of the Glasbena Matica Ljubljana, a cultural association of venerable tradition. It will be performed in the original instrumental scoring for voices, two pianos and a harmonium. The Mixed Choir of the Glasbena Matica Ljubljana, under the baton of Sebastjan Vrhovnik, artistic director of the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir, will be joined by some of Slovenia’s finest, internationally celebrated soloists.