Event Details

Gavin Carr, conductor
Erica Eloff, soprano
Marta Fontanals-Simmons, mezzo
Toby Spence, tenor
Neal Davies, baritone
Gabriel Carcano, piano
Bournemouth Symphony Chorus

Beethoven: Choral Fantasy
Haydn: Mass for troubled times

Beethoven: Coriolan Overture
Beethoven: Ah! Perfido

We are delighted to have the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus return to the NCPA, known for their fine singing and visceral performances. Under their director Gavin Carr, the chorus joins with the SOI to bring two glorious choral works to Mumbai. In the Choral Fantasy – written and performed in 1808 with the composer at the piano as a fundraiser to benefit himself – Beethoven marshalled all the forces available to him, in what is rightly known as a forerunner of his great ninth symphony. In trademark Beethoven manner, he combines strength and majesty with joy, exuberance and warmth.

The Napoleonic push through Europe made everyone nervous, and so in 1797, at the height of instability, Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy disbanded the woodwinds from his court orchestra. No matter – the trumpets and drums, with strings, provide an almost Handelian majesty. It was the year that Haydn wrote his Mass in Angustiis or Mass for troubled times. The work is a perfect marriage of sacred music and symphonic finesse, and one of Haydn’s finest compositions. As we know, Lord Horatio Nelson won a decisive victory over Napoleon at the Battle of the Nile, causing the piece to take on its current moniker – and by the time Nelson and his wife visited Esterhazy Palace in 1800, the name had stuck for good.

The concert will run for approximately 85 minutes including one intermission.

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