Messa Solenne for Soloists, Male chorus, and Orchestra

Featuring

Fabrizio Callai
Francesco Meli
Matteo Lippi
Mario Cassi
Nicola Ulivieri
Francesco Biraga

Giovanni Battista Fabris
Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice Genova
Coro della Fondazione Teatro Carlo Felice
Saverio Mercadante

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Composition History

Mercadante's Messa Solenne was composed around 1861, just before the onset of his blindness, but he was unable to experience its performance due to his condition.

Compositional Technique

Mercadante's Messa Solenne includes demanding concertante solos for English horn and violin, performed by Antonio Albano and Giuseppe Bacigalupo at its premiere.

Compositional Technique

The score of Mercadante's Messa Solenne requires a male choir, in accordance with ecclesiastical rules of the time that prohibited women from singing in churches.

Composer Biography

Saverio Mercadante, the composer, dictated his compositions to his pupil Carlo Panara because he had become blind by the time he wrote the Messa Solenne.

Composition History

Saverio Mercadante's Messa Solenne was discovered in 2013 in the Durazzo-Giustiniani Archive in Genoa during research on Angelo Mariani's compositions.

Recording & Production

This album features the world premiere recording of Saverio Mercadante's Messa Solenne.

Historical Context

The commission and performance of Mercadante's Messa Solenne continued a centuries-long tradition of St. Ambrogio's Music Chapel in Genoa commissioning new sacred works from renowned composers.