Speakers include Superintendent Claudio Orazi, Artistic Director Pierangelo Conte, Fabrizio Callai and musicologist Francesco Zimei
I am pleased to present the critical edition of this important sacred work from the full maturity of one of Italy’s most important Romantic composers, Saverio Mercadante. After the writer’s discovery of the Genoese manuscript of this Messa solenne in G minor for soloists, choir and orchestra at the Durazzo Giustiniani archives, in concert with the Superintendence of the Opera Carlo Felice – very sensitive to musicological research especially in the city sphere – it was decided to follow up a series of initiatives aimed at rediscovering a part of the musical history of the Ligurian capital revolving around the “Cantoria” of the Church of S. Ambrogio; it definitely constituted one of the most important stable Italian institutions for the diffusion of the sacred repertoire gradually updated by the Marquises Pallavicini and Pallavicino, who, in the mid-19th century, held patronage over the centuries-old musical chapel, founded by one of their ascendants at the close of the 16th century. The Mass, composed in Naples around 1861/62 and conceived for 4 male soloists, 3 male even-voice choir and large orchestra, was performed on Sunday, January 19, 1868 on the feast of Our Lady of Providence under the direction of Angelo Mariani. Alongside the publication of the critical edition that we are about to present and which is included in the series “Civiltà musicale genovese” directed by Claudio Orazi and Francesco Zimei (LIM, Lucca), the Mass was also the subject of a complete performance conducted by me with the artistic ensembles of the Carlo Felice and with a vocal cast of great stature represented by the two Ligurian tenors Francesco Meli and Matteo Lippi, Mario Cassi, baritone, and Nicola Ulivieri, bass-baritone. This recording, available as a CD on the Genoese label Dynamic, brings the pages of the score in question to life and I hope it will make people rediscover with pleasure – and a healthy dose of pride – the shining musical past of our Genoa.
Fabrizio Callai
