Sunday, 7/6/2025
at 5:00 PM



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Start of box office: 4:00 PM

Concert Universitätschor und -orchester Konstanz

The choir and orchestra of the University of Konstanz will perform on July 6th (at 5 PM) for the first time in the history of the ensembles in the Stadtkirche Winterthur (Switzerland).

The program features sacred works by Italian and French composers, who primarily achieved worldwide fame through their operatic works:

The concert will be opened by the Ave Maria sung a cappella by the choir, composed by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), which is the first of his Quattro pezzi sacri (Four Sacred Pieces) and belongs to his latest works. It is a mystical, almost ethereal music based on a mysterious scale (scala enigmatica).

The main work will be the Messa a 4 voci con orchestra by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), which became known as the Messa di Gloria. The piece is characterized by its exciting mix of church and operatic styles: in the large-scale Gloria movement, the style of later successes like La Bohème and Tosca is already anticipated, while the intricate and complex fugues testify to Puccini's solid training in church music. The entire work is marked by a youthful freshness and immediacy of expression, making it particularly well-suited for a performance by a young ensemble.

Also a youthful work – and even an extraordinarily rarely performed one – is Georges Bizet's (1838-1875) Te Deum. This piece is the only sacred composition by the French master; it was not until the 1970s that its existence was noted in Paris, and to this day, very few recordings exist. The composition sets the ancient Ambrosian hymn of praise in four festive movements: two outer movements designated for the choir (including an extensive final fugue) frame the two central pieces, which are set for soprano and tenor solo in a distinctly operatic manner.

Around 130 participants will take to the stage in the choir and orchestra for this concert. The two ensembles feel happy and honored to have gained three internationally renowned soloists: Sara-Bigna Janett (soprano), Rolf Romei (tenor), and Ulf Friederichs (bass-baritone). The overall direction is in the hands of Reto Schärli.

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901): Ave Maria (sulla scala enigmatica) from "Quattro pezzi sacri"

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924): Messa a 4 voci con orchestra SC6

Georges Bizet (1838-1875): Te Deum

Sara-Bigna Janett, soprano
Rolf Romei, tenor
Ulf Friederichs, bass-baritone

Universitätschor Konstanz
Universitätsorchester Konstanz

Reto Schärli, conductor

Admission: 4:00 PM

Event data provided by: Reservix