Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Monteverdi Choir

“[…] my greatest work […], which I wrote recently”: “Missa Ssolemnis” occupies a special place even within the oeuvre of Ludwig van Beethoven, which is not exactly short of highlights. Here the composer once again articulated the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity – at a time when, due to the restoration, the prospect of a Christianity characterised by enlightened humanity had long since become a distant utopia. “With devotion,” Beethoven wrote before the first note of his score, which he also prefaced with the dedication: “From the heart – may it return – to the heart!” John Eliot Gardiner, an influential figure in the original sound movement and one of the most innovative conductors of our time, has programmed Beethoven’s “Missa solemnis” in Berlin. On the platform will be the musicians of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique that he founded: world-class instrumentalists with a subtle feeling for style who have also devoted themselves with conspicuous dynamism to the music of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Singing alongside the ensemble of internationally renowned soloists will be the Monteverdi Choir, which, with its combination of consummate choral technique and historically informed performance practice, has thrilled audiences around the world time and again over the last 50 years: “If there were a Nobel Prize for choirs,” the French newspaper Le Monde once wrote, “the Monteverdi Choir ought to be the winner.”

Concert Programme

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827)
Missa solemnis
for four soloists, choir, orchestra and organ in D major op. 123 (1819 – 1822/23)

Cast

Lucy Crowe soprano
Ann Hallenberg mezzo soprano
Giovanni Sala tenor
William Thomas bass

Monteverdi Choir
Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
John Eliot Gardiner conductor