Giulio Prandi & Coro Ghislieri - Rossini: Petite messe solennelle - The Guardian

Composed 34 years after he had stopped writing operas, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle (1863) is singular in every way. “Petite” in the forces required rather than length, it is scored for soloists, a dozen mixed voices, two pianos and harmonium and lasts nearly an hour and a half. The orchestral version is better known. In a new recording (Outhere) with the agile Coro Ghislieri, conductor Giulio Prandi has used a new critical edition, recorded for the first time. The pianos and harmonium (played by Francesco Corti, Cristiano Gaudio and Daniel Perer) date from the 19th century, colouring the sound, sharpening contours, lightening the textures. With Sandrine Piau (soprano), José Maria Lo Monaco (alto), Edgardo Rocha (tenor) and Christian Senn (bass) as soloists, this performance brings out the idiosyncratic variety of Rossini’s music, at once operatic, sacred and quirky.