Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Will Perform Rossini in Paris

Join Sydney Philharmonia Choirs on a unique musical journey, in this exploration and celebration of Gioachino Rossini’s time in the City of Light. In this uplifting concert the Choirs pair two of the Italian maestro’s works created a quarter of a century apart – markers of two extreme phases in his career, and perhaps, of the two “different” Rossini’s who once made a home along the cobbled streets of the French capital. 

The first – his grand French-language opera, Guillaume Tell (William Tell), created at the height of his career in 1829 for the Paris Opera, and still much-loved today for its famous galloping overture, known to many as the theme music for The Lone Ranger movie and television series. 

The second – a rare performance of his final masterpiece, the Petite messe solennelle (Little Solemn Mass). First performed in 1864, a few years shy of his passing, the Petite messe solennelle is as ‘solemn’ as one might expect from a composer born to comic opera, and not exactly ‘little’ at 90 minutes; defying its name with music that’s expansive and joyous. 

With a cheeky nod to the “Péchés de vieillesse” (sins of old age) – as Rossini referred to his later music – the two works in Rossini in Paris are true to the dramatic instinct and abundant imagination for which the Italian master is justly acclaimed.  

For this one-off performance conducted by Brett Weymark OAM, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ renowned 450-voice Festival Chorus of community singers is joined by some of Australia’s finest soloists including much-loved previous SPC collaborators Celeste Lazarenko and Ashlyn Tymms, and Opera Australia (OA) stars Shanul Sharma and Nathan Lay, both straight from the Sydney season of another Rossini favourite, The Barber of Seville, making their SPC debuts. 

Those who caught The Barber of Seville season would have witnessed Sharma’s brilliant performance as Count Almaviva. All in a day’s work for the acclaimed Indian Australian tenor, whose numerous awards include the Rossini International Award, from the Chamber Orchestra Association of Rossini’s hometown of Pesaro, Italy.

The concert also marks the beginning of an exciting new collaboration between Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Opera Australia, with the professional singers of the OA Chorus set to join in the excitement, replete with some of Australia’s brightest opera stars in the making.

The wonderful musicians of the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra will be led by one of Sydney's leading early music specialists, acclaimed violinist Fiona Ziegler. 

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