Taconic Opera (Westchester, NY): Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle

Finishing off its 2011-2012 season and continuing its tradition of presenting an annual choral masterwork by an opera composer, Taconic Opera will be offering two performances of Petite Messe Solenelle by Gioacchino Rossini, the composer of The Barber of Seville, Cinderella (La Cenerentola), and many others.  Completed in his later years and one of very few works he offered to the public during those years, he describes with characteristic wit why he chose to write a sacred mass:  "Good God—behold completed this poor little Mass…  You know well, I was born for comic opera.  Little science, a little heart, that is all. So may you be blessed, and grant me Paradise!”  The Emperor Napolean found the mass to be neither little (Petite), solemn (Solennelle) or even liturgical.  Audiences find this controversial but exciting work fascinating, unique, and a true pleasure for the ear and the heart to experience.

Performances are at the Ossining United Methodist Church, I Emwilton Pl., Ossining, NY, on Saturday, June 2, 2012 at 7:30pm, and Sunday, June 3, 2012 at 3:00pm.  Tickets are $27 with generous discounted prices for seniors ($20) and especially students ($15).  For information, tickets or directions: call 1-855-886 -7372 or email taconicopera@gmail.com or visit www.taconicopera.org.

Currently in its 14th season and the recipient of the 2012 ArtsWestchester Arts Organization of the Year Award, Taconic Opera is the longest operating professional opera company in Westchester County that offers a full season of events. In addition to mainstage operas and concert performances, the company provides in-school educational programs, offers free performances of fully-staged operas to school children, and provides free lectures at public facilities.  Taconic Opera is one of only a handful of local companies to have received a prestigious National Endowment for the Arts Grant for Artistic Excellence.