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Organization

Singer

Soprano

Gabriela Herrera

Mezzo-soprano

Guadalupe Paz

Tenor

Orlando Pineda

Bass

Carsten Wittmoser

Conductor

Iván López-Reynoso

Ópera de Bellas Artes

Others

Coro de Madrigalistas de Bellas Artes

Orchestra

Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México

La petite messe solennelle

Mexico City

Mexico

Palacio de Bellas Artes

n February 2016, the National Symphony Orchestra premiered in Mexico the orchestral version of the Little Solemn Mass, a posthumous work by Gioachino Rossini, under the baton of Iván López Reynoso, one of the most outstanding young Mexican conductors.
 
 Famed for his prolific operatic output, Rossini (1792–1868) completed the last of his 40 operas, William Tell, at the age of 37, and spent the remaining 39 years of his life writing pieces for piano, chamber music and sacred works performed by his friends and which he described as "sins of old age".

 In 1863, five years before his death, one of the greatest exponents of bel canto composed the Little Solemn Mass, originally written for a 12-member choir symbolizing the apostles of Christ, to the accompaniment of two pianos and a harmonium  A year before his death, the author wrote the orchestration of the mass, knowing that sooner or later someone else would do it, so he preferred to do this work himself.

 The first version of the Small Solemn Mass was premiered on March 14, 1864 privately.  It was not until February 1869 when the version orchestrated by Rossini was performed in public, three months after his death, that it is considered his true musical testament;  no other work composed by him at that stage can be compared with this sacred piece, according to specialists.

 To perform Rossini's work, the OSN will have the participation of a cast made up of the soprano Gabriela Herrera, the mezzo-soprano Guadalupe Paz, the tenor Orlando Pineda, the bass-baritone Carsten Wittmoser and the Choir of Madrigalistas de Bellas Artes.

 Gabriela Herrera studied at the National Conservatory of Music and at the Higher School of Music of the National Institute of Fine Arts, as well as at the renowned The Juilliard School in New York.  She was part of the ensemble of soloists at the Stuttgart State Opera from 1996 to 2007.

 Guadalupe Paz, originally from Tijuana, graduated from the Arrigo Pedrollo Conservatory in Vicenza, Italy, and recently won the first competition in the United States dedicated to the interpretation of Rossini's music.

 Orlando Pineda studied with the teacher Enrique Jaso Mendoza.  In 2012 she won third prize in the Las Voces Jovenes del Bel Canto contest in Mexico, and in 2015, first place in the Second Irma González Ibero-American Singing Contest.

 The German singer Carsten Wittmoser has an outstanding career in Europe and America, and has been part of the ensembles of the opera houses of Stuttgart, Linz, Freiburg and Hamburg.

La petite messe solennelle: Petite messe solennelle Rossini

Public

Little solemn mass

Approved

La petite messe solennelle by Rossini, From (2016/2016), Conductor Iván López-Reynoso, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, Mexico

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