SYDNEY SYMPHONY performance held at The Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House.

Sydney Symphony marks World Youth Day with two special performances of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis

Friday 18 July, 8pm
Saturday 19 July, 8pm

Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall

SYDNEY, 10 June 2008 – As part of World Youth Day, the Sydney Symphony brings the power of the liturgy into the concert hall with two special performances of one of classical music’s most awe-inspiring works, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.

With the Sydney Symphony’s Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti at the helm, the Orchestra will give two performances of the Missa Solemnis, Friday 18 July and Saturday 19 July.

According to Maestro Gelmetti, no other work in the classical music repertoire is better placed to express the divine power of music than Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.

“Beethoven used the human voice accompanied by music to speak directly to us – to our deep-seated desire for peace, love and joy here on earth,” says Gelmetti.

“As an offering to God, the work was a declaration of humanity’s love for God and His love for humankind. It is that intersection of the deeply personal and the sacred that makes the Missa Solemnis so uniquely and penetratingly moving.”

Begun in 1819 when Beethoven was already profoundly deaf, the Missa Solemnis (Mass for a Solemn Occasion) is a masterpiece. It is undoubtedly Beethoven’s most substantial contribution to choral music, and perhaps even his most considerable single achievement, which he once described as ‘my greatest work’. In fact, Beethoven thought the Missa Solemnis surpassed even his Ninth Symphony.

For the Sydney Symphony, the performance for World Youth Day will be a highlight of the Orchestra’s 2008 season.

“As Australia’s premier Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony is privileged to be making such an important artistic contribution to World Youth Day celebrations through its performances of Beethoven’s grand work, the Missa Solemnis,” says Sydney Symphony Managing Director Libby Christie.
“We are proud to be showcasing the high standards of Australia’s arts and cultural scene to the thousands of international and interstate visitors who will be converging on Sydney for World Youth Day,” adds Christie.

The performance on Friday 18 July has been made possible with the generous support of Lady Fairfax AC OBE.