Mozart – Great Mass in C minor
Anna Leese, Emma Fraser, Oliver Sewell, Kieran Rayner / Mark Dorrell (conductor)
Orpheus Choir, Wellington Youth Choir, Orchestra Wellington
Mozart Photo: Public Domain
In tonight’s concert, we have the Orpheus Choir of Wellington joining forces with the Wellington Youth Choir and Orchestra Wellington to perform Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor and celebrated Exsultate jubilate. Mozart wrote this motet for a very accomplished Italian castrato. A considerable skill is needed for what’s really a mini concerto for voice.
Mozart had already written plenty of masses for his former Archbishop employer who liked them to be brief, but this time having no commissioner to please, Mozart pleased himself. Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor ends with the Benedictus, not the Agnus Dei. It’s considered one of two great unfinished choral works by Mozart, the other being his Requiem.
Recorded live at the Michael Fowler Centre by Radio New Zealand