The Italian Cultural Institute, in collaboration with the Lebanese National Conservatory and the Antonine University’s Choir, presents the “Petite Messe Solennelle” by Gioacchino Rossini in its orchestral version at the Saint Joseph Church of the Jesuit Fathers in Beirut, with the participation of two Italian artists, the soprano Caterina Di Tonno and the mezzo-soprano Angela Schisano.
The orchestral version of the “Petite Messe Solennelle” was written by Rossini in 1867, three years after the original piano version was first performed on March 14, 1864 at the Counts of Pillet-Will’s residence in Paris. This rewriting was partially due to the fact that Rossini did not want it rewritten anyway by others after his death. As he disliked the young boys’ voices of cathedral choirs, he asked the Pope’s permission to have the orchestral version performed in church with female voices, without success. He therefore asked for this version to be performed only after his death, and so it was. In fact, it was performed for the first time in public by the Théâtre-Italien on February 24th, 1869 at the Salle Ventadour in Paris, three months after his death.