Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) dedicated the last years of his life to a work in which he once again demonstrated all his skills, the "Petite Messe Solennelle". His sheer inexhaustible wealth of melodies is combined with a mastery of the style of church music that is reminiscent of great predecessors. It was no coincidence that Rossini had subscribed to the complete edition of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach since 1851.
On the title page of his handwritten copy of the “Petite Messe”, Rossini explains the required number of singers in a strange way: “[…] eight for the choir, four for the soloists, so a total of 12 cherubs. Dear God, forgive me the following connection: 12 are also the apostles in the famous 'Feasting Scene', painted in Leonardo's fresco, which is called 'The Last Supper'.” That Rossini at the Eucharist, the core of every Mass , thinks of an act of gluttony with almost baroque humor, is no coincidence, since he had devoted himself entirely to the art of cooking from 1829, after the last opera he composed, "Guillaume Tell". A venereal disease had forced him to give up opera and instead of the ladies he had worshiped up to then, indulge in other carnal pleasures. Zampone di Modena (stuffed pig's feet), which he had sent from Italy to Paris, imprisoned him from then on. Heaven on earth, that was apparently the land of milk and honey for the pleasure-seeker Rossini. (Michael Silence)
