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“There is a magnificence in hearing the voices in a fine choir, such as the Sydney Philharmonic Choirs, come together so beautifully. It is goosebumps stuff.”
– Sydney Arts Guide, 2024 –
Come to the Northern Foyer at 1.15pm to hear 2MBS Fine Music presenter Peter Poole speak with our 2025 Conducting Fellow Ezra Hersch about the music this program. Grab a drink at the bar and enjoy this free, 30-minute talk, with plenty of time to find your seat for the 2pm concert.
Seating is on the carpeted stairs in the Northern Foyer. Some chairs may be available on a first-come basis.
Access the Northern Foyer via the new tunnel from the Southern Foyer.
2025 Pre-Concert Talks are made possible with the support of our media partner, 2MBS Fine Music.
More famous than Beethoven, Rossini was a household name – his tunes on every lip. For one tune that’s still true: the ‘Lone Ranger’ theme that brings the William Tell overture to its thrilling end. William Tell, created for the Paris Opera, also marked the end of Rossini’s stage career. At the peak of his fame, he retired. It would be 25 years before he returned to Paris.
This concert presents two sides of ‘Rossini in Paris’: the celebrity of the stage and the private persona – a composer with a sense of humour, indulging in the creative freedoms of what he liked to call the ‘sins of my old age’. The last and greatest of these ‘sins’ was his ‘Little Solemn Mass’. There’s a wink in that title – it’s about as ‘solemn’ as you can expect from a composer born to comic opera, and at 90 minutes it’s not exactly ‘little’ – but even so, it’s an expression of deeply felt faith.
These two masterpieces are connected by the authentic voice of prayer. ‘God of goodness!’ cry the Swiss in the stormy finale to Act I of William Tell; ‘Lord have mercy!’ sings the choir in the opening minutes of the Petite messe. Whether theatrical or devotional, the music reveals the dramatic instinct and abundant imagination for which Rossini is justly famous.
Saturday 17 May | 2pm
Sydney Opera House Concert Hall
This performance will run for 2 hours and 30 minutes, including one 20-minute interval.
Gioachino ROSSINI
William Tell: Highlights from Act I (Sung in French)
Petite messe solennelle
Brett Weymark conductor
Celeste Lazarenko soprano (Jemmy)
Ashlyn Tymms mezzo-soprano (Hedwig)
Shanul Sharma tenor (Arnold)
Elias Wilson tenor (Rodolphe)
Nathan Lay baritone (William Tell)
Leon Vitogiannis baritone (Melchthal)
Opera Australia Chorus
Festival Chorus
Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra
Premium $140 | A $114 | B $88 | C $60 | D $45
Concessions $126| A $103| B $79 | C $55 | D $41
Under 30 $30
A booking fee of $8.95 per transaction applies.