Do not be put off by the title La Petite Messe Solennelle, as there is nothing at all ' solemn' about Rossini's Mass.
It is positively bursting with melodies. The work needs unusual forces : four soloists, a ' chorus ' of eight, two pianos and a harmonium. Rossini himself wrote: ' My Lord, forgive me this arrangement. I was really born for comic opera as you well know.' Kari Lovass (soprano)
Brigitte Fassbaendcr (contralto) Peter Schreier (tenor)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone)
Die Munchener Vokalsolisten
Reinhard Raffalt (harmonium) Hans Ludwig Hirsch
Wolfgang Sawallisch
(conductor and solo piano)
Recorded in the Baumburg Monastery Chapel A BR/ZDF production