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‘From the heart – may it go straight to the heart.’ Ludwig van Beethoven worked for half a decade on his Missa solemnis, and it’s infinitely more than just one of the mightiest and most ambitious Mass settings since Bach. The Missa solemnis is the supreme spiritual testament of one of the greatest creative artists who ever lived: an intimate self-portrait of a human soul, profoundly beautiful and almost unbearably moving. This performance is a labour of love for Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Few living conductors can match his experience as an interpreter of Classical and Romantic choral music, and with the period instruments of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Beethoven’s inspiration will glow with a special richness and warmth.

There will be no interval

Image: Sir John Eliot Gardiner © Sim Canetty-Clarke