Devotion: POSTPONED

Donald Runnicles, Conductor
Jennifer Davis, Soprano
Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, Mezzo-soprano
Samuel Sakker, Tenor
Jonathan Lemalu, Baritone
Voices New Zealand Choir

Beethoven, Missa Solemnis

Following the triumphant 2019 Beethoven Festival, NZSO’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth continues with a masterwork from the end of his life – the Missa Solemnis. Imbued with the theatrical spirit of opera and deep spirituality of Catholic mass, mixed choir, soloists and orchestra bring to life this rarely heard magnum opus.

Maestro Donald Runnicles visits New Zealand for the first time to conduct this work. Currently Music Director of Deutsche Oper Berlin and Music Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival, Runnicles is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Under his baton, a quartet of local and international soloists will be supported by Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir. Runnicles brings his considerable operatic expertise to Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, a work whose manuscript Beethoven inscribed with the phrase: “From the heart – may it return to the heart!”