Dates

24 Jan - 24 Apr 2021

Location

Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Online

Running time

1:22

Tickets

Free

Petite messe solennelle

Long after he had bid farewell to his successful opera career, Gioacchino Rossini wrote his Petite messe solennelle. A mass full of drama, emotion, grand gestures and intimate moments. Andrea Battistoni, who has the Italian opera repertoire in his blood, conducts the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chorus of Dutch National Opera and four young top soloists in this concert stream.

Watch the full concert below!

Large-scale mass with excellent young soloists

Rossini, who became famous for his countless comic operas, also displayed his sense of humour in the choice of title for his mass. With a running time of over an hour, a large choir, four soloists and – at least in the version orchestrated by the composer himself and presented by DNO – a full symphony orchestra, many a church is too small for this large-scale masterpiece.

Large-scale mass with excellent young soloists

Excellent young soloists

In this performance, the young Italian conductor Andrea Battistoni (La bohème with DNO in 2017) conducts the Chorus of Dutch National Opera, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and four soloists who are rising stars in the international opera world: Ying Fang (previously Susanna in the online Le nozze di Figaro), Katia Ledoux (previously Geneviève in Pelléas et Mélisande), Levy Sekgapane (who won the Belvedere Singing Competition in 2015 on the stage of Dutch National Opera & Ballet) and Frederik Bergman, a singer from Dutch National Opera Studio.

Large-scale project full of challenges

This performance is a musical undertaking of major proportions, rendered extra special in challenging times like these. We are sharing this stream with the audience free of charge in order to demonstrate, in the heart of the second lockdown, what we so sorely miss: the large scale and unifying power of our art form. 

Credits

Musical direction

Andrea Battistoni

Chorus master

Ching-Lien Wu

Orchestra

Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra | Netherlands Chamber Orchestra

Chorus

Chorus of Dutch National Opera

Soprano

Ying Fang

Alto

Katia Ledoux

Tenor

Levy Sekgapane

Bass

Frederik Bergman

Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra

Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra

The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra plays grand symphonies by composers such as Mahler, Brahms and R. Strauss at the highest level. The orchestra can be heard regularly in the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, but the orchestra always enjoys playing in other concert halls as well. As the orchestra of the Dutch National Opera, the orchestra is internationally regarded as one of the best opera orchestras.

Petite Messe Solennelle
in the media
Lovely reviews

This Petite messe sounds great. Amazing!

26 January

The chorus navigated beautifully through opera and ecclesiastic

27 January

Beautiful music, beautiful performance... after the opening cadence, you're sold.

26 January
from our audience

Ying Fang's voice is so refreshing, warm, and full of dynamic. She always has the perfect pitch.

- Curtis

Absolutely wonderful and uplifting! ❤

- Gavrin

One of the most beautiful and gripping concerts I've ever attended digitally. There were tears in my eyes at the very end. <3

- Kees

Opera online

Can't you get enough of opera? Discover more than 3.487 hours of:

  • behind the scenes footage

  • interviews & articles

  • fragments

  • quizzes & games

Opera online