Choral Society of the Hamptons: Rossini in Spring
For its spring concert the Choral Society of the Hamptons will perform Gioachino Rossini’s “Petite Messe Solennelle,” which the composer called “the last mortal sin of my old age,” on Sunday at 5 p.m. at the East Hampton Presbyterian Church and on Monday evening at 7 at the Church of the Holy Trinity on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
John Daly Goodwin, a former music director of the choral society, will conduct. The chorus will be joined by four soloists from Mexico: Alejandra Sandoval, soprano, Diana Peralta, mezzo-soprano, César Delgado, tenor, and Carlos Lopez, baritone, all of whom were winners of the Opera San Miguel vocal competition. Thomas Bohlert on organ and Christine Cadarette on piano will accompany the chorus.
Written in 1863, more than 30 years after Rossini had retired from composing operas, the Mass is distinguished by a parade of uplifting choruses, arias, and ensembles in the composer’s distinctive style, according to a release. It is structured in several extended movements in the tradition of the Missa solemnis, or Solemn Mass, but, while a serious religious work, “the Mass also has the most delightful touches from a man who remained a theatrical composer to the end,” wrote Andrew McGregor in a BBC review of a 2006 recording.
Mr. Goodwin, who in 1999 completed nine years as the choral society’s music director, was music director of the New York Choral Society for 25 years. He has led concerts throughout the world, including 44 in Carnegie Hall, eight at Lincoln Center, and in Shanghai, Mexico City, Paris, Chartres, and Venice. Now based in Mexico, he is a member of the board of directors of Opera San Miguel and the Festival Internacional de Musica San Miguel de Allende.
He has also served as president of the New York Choral Consortium, music adviser to the September Concert Foundation, as a juror for the annual Opera San Miguel vocal competition, and he has been a member of the music faculties of New York University and Pace University.
Tickets to East Hampton concert are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. For students the cost is $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Preferred seating is available for $75. New York City concert tickets are $20, $25 at the door, and $10 or $15 for students. A benefit cocktail reception will take place after Sunday’s concert at the Palm restaurant in East Hampton. Reception tickets are $100. All tickets can be purchased from the choral society’s website or by calling 631-204-9402.
Led by Mark Mangini, its music director, the choral society is an auditioned chorus that has performed high-quality choral music on the East End since its founding in 1946 by the late Charlotte Rogers Smith.