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Rossini's Messa di Milano

This is an early work, dating from around 1808. For some perspective, Rossini won't write his first opera, a one-act, until 1810, followed by a two-act opera a year later.

To tell the truth, the only Rossini pieces I have heard from this period, are his Sonatas, some Cantatas, and Sinfonias.

Still, the Messa di Milano is a very fetching work, and I don't think it is so far-flung from his other Mass settings to have left it lying in a dusty corner.

I don't know much surrounding this music, other than his early works are often nicknamed for the place they were composed in or for, in this case Milan. It is also an incomplete work, for it ends at the Credo (a truncated version at that), instead of continuing with the Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus. Perhaps this was all that was requested of the composer, or Rossini went on to other business at hand.

As with his other Mass settings, soloists feature prominently, and in this particular work, two solo tenors. In this recording, these parts are covered by Raúl Giménez and Ian Bostridge, an unlikely singing pair, but they work pretty well together.

Otherwise, the chorus is excellent, how could it not be with the great Chorus Master László Heltay on hand, and the quartet of soloists come and go akin to arias from an opera. The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields is a wonderful ensemble, and since this is so rarely performed, it is indeed a special recording.

I am not covering Marriner's traversal of Rossini's more famous Petite Messe Solennelle, I covered that elsewhere, but I will circle back around to this recording when I get a chance.

Listen on YouTube

Work
Messa di Milano
   I. Kyrie (7.20)
  II. Gloria (23.46)
 III. Credo (9.10)

Soloists
Susanne Mentzer, mezzo-soprano
Raúl Giménez, tenor
Ian Bostridge, tenor
Simone Aliamo, bass

Performers
Chorus of St. Martin in the Fields
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Sir Neville Marriner, conductor

Label: Philips
Year: 1995
Total Timing: 40.16

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