Rossini – ‘Petite Messe Solennelle’
This is the earliest Amici performance to have been recorded, and took p
lace in Wellington Parish Church on what must have been the wettest night of the year! The audience squelched in from the thunderous downpour, but the weather didn’t seem to dampen their enthusiasm.
Amici had only been in existence for a few months, and this concert was our largest scale venture to that time. The accompaniment is scored for two pianos and harmonium.
‘Cum Sancto Spiritu in Gloria Dei Patris amen!’
‘With the Holy Spirit , to the Glory of God the Father, Amen!’
It’s a colossal sing, running (and how!) for over 26 pages at a furious pace – we loved it, and in a typical ‘coals to Newcastle’ exercise, when we went on a concert tour of Italy years later, the Rossini was one of the works we took with us to perform.