Klingende Residenz: Gioacchino Rossini Petite Messe solennelle
Dear God. Here it is, the poor little mass. Have I really created holy music, or rather cursed music? I was born for opera buffa, you know it well! A little skill, a little heart, that's all. So be praised and grant me paradise.
In this charmingly ironic dedication lies the entire nature of Gioacchino Rossini. He hides his compositional talent under a bushel yet turns directly to dear God!
More than 30 years after he had stopped composing operas, this enchanting music was created and has become the most significant work of his later oeuvre. Composed in 1863 at Rossini's retirement home in Passy near Paris for a count's private chapel, the Petite Messe solennelle will be performed in 2025 by the Vocalensemble Rastatt and Gryta Tatoryte at the piano in the magnificent ancestral hall of the Rastatt Baroque Palace, thus in a very similar setting, namely as part of the concert series "Klingende Residenz," which takes place for the first time this year in September.
The mass is a personal confession of faith and worldview from the most famous opera composer of his time. His God had truly not made life easy for him on a health level. Through the way Rossini nevertheless pays homage to him with ease and the wit of opera buffa, and indeed with "serious" compositional techniques, we still come close to the man Rossini in the most sympathetic way today. He was surely aware that most "tedeschi" (Germans) would at least be suspicious of such "cheerful" music within the sacrosanct category of the mass—and perhaps this was even motivation to emphasize cheerfulness all the more.
For the Vocalensemble Rastatt, this work seems tailor-made: Transparency, lightness, charm, and virtuosity are required—the core competencies of the choir, which can also score points with "in-house" soloists from the ensemble. Holger Speck is the 'spiritus rector' of this performance and looks forward with his ensemble to the Italian spirit of this music. The young Lithuanian pianist Gryta Tatoryte, who has already accompanied the ensemble multiple times and in radio productions, will be heard at the piano.
Doors open at 10:30 a.m.