We know Rossini for his amazing operas—among them the Barber of Seville, William Tell and Cinderella—but he composed a good deal of instrumental and choral music as well. His Messa di Gloria and Stabat Mater continue to be mainstays of the choral repertoire and reflect his work as an opera composer: large-scale choral movements and virtuosic solos, accompanied by a large orchestra.
CONCORA opens its 46th season with Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, a more modest piece, written nearly thirty years after he composed his last opera. Rossini referred to it as “the last sin of my old age,” placing it in the company of a series of small-scale works he composed in the final decade of his life. Others have observed that, despite its title, this Mass setting is neither “small” nor particularly “solemn!” The scale is intimate, written for a choir of sixteen with a quartet of soloists. Audience members will hear many of CONCORA’s wonderful singers perform the solos within the work.
In its original form, the piece was scored for piano and harmonium—a small pump organ—the perfect accompaniment for a work designed to be performed in the home of the couple to whom it was dedicated. Because few working harmoniums exist today, James Barry will accompany this performance on South Church’s excellent 1972 Gress-Miles organ. In the hands of an skilled organist like Jim, this versatile instrument can replicate the sound of the harmonium with ease.
Artfully Crafted Beer &
Wood-Fired Pizza
193 Arch Street, New Britain Ample parking on site
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Italian Celebration
If more Italian music is what you crave, we have just the thing for you! Join us after the concert for a fundraising event at Five Churches Brewing on Arch Street, a short walk from South Church. Enjoy celebrated craft beers, (wine or soda if you prefer) and savor delicious pizzas from a wood-fired oven, while CONCORA singers thrill us with Italian opera arias and folksongs. You’ll even have a chance to join in a chorus or two! O Sole Mio, anyone? |
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CONCORA’s 2019-2020 season is made possible through the generous gifts of many individual donors, foundations and institutions, including CONCORA’s Friends of Bach, the American Savings Foundation, the Greater Hartford Arts Council, supported in part by the Greater Hartford Arts Council’s United Arts Campaign with major support from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the J. Walton Bissell Foundation, the Andrew J. Sloper Music Fund, the Helen M. Saunders Charitable Foundation, The Edward C. & Ann T. Roberts Foundation, the Ensworth Charitable Fund, the Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, The Connecticut Endowment Fund, The William and Alice Mortensen Foundation, the City of New Britain Commission on the Arts, the Robert C. Vance Foundation. The Marjorie Jolidon Fund - American Guild of Organists, The Musical Club of Hartford, Inc., and The Weld Fund - Community Foundation of Greater New Britain.
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