GREAT MASS IN C MINOR KV 427 / WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART. SEASON INAUGURATION

9 September 2022, Friday
Time 20:30
Carmelite Church, Krakowskie Przedmieście 52/54 in Warsaw

BUY TICKET

The Mass in C minor KV427 is one of the most outstanding religious works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He composed it after his arrival in Vienna, but it was first heard – in an incomplete version – in the church of St. Peter in Salzburg in October of 1783. The piece was written to fulfill a vow that the composer made to himself and was a token of gratitude for the opportunity to return to his hometown with his beloved wife Constanze. The soprano part was created with the voice of his sweetheart in mind. In fact, however, Mozart never finished his work and today it is difficult to discern what the missing fragments of Credo and the Agnus Dei which was never even sketched out were replaced with during the premiere.

Nevertheless, the mass was called “great” – not only because of its monumental form but, above all, because of its extremely rich musical content. “Bach is not the only master who stands behind this work: there are also Handel and the whole eighteenth century, including even the great Italians […]”, notes Alfred Einstein in the biography of the composer and further states that with this work Mozart “sums up his century and transfigures its musical language”. The extraordinary piece includes both lyrical arias inspired by the Italian tradition (including the tender soprano part Et incarnatus) and extensive choirs with impressive fugues (in Kyrie and Gloria), and the rhetorical figures add suggestiveness to the images enchanted in the sounds.

 

PERFORMERS

MAŁGORZATA TROJANOWSKA  I SOPRANO
ANETA ŁUKASZEWICZ  II SOPRANO
SYLWESTER SMULCZYŃSKI  TENOR
PAWEŁ MICHALCZUK  BASS

THE ORCHESTRA OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA

THE CHORUS OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA

THE CHAMBER CHOIR OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA

JAKUB SZAFRAŃSKI  CHORUS MASTER
RENATA SZCZYPIOR  CHAMBER CHOIR MASTER

KAROL SZWECH  CONDUCTOR

 


Duration: approx. 1 h
The seats in the auditorium are not numbered.