On Good Saturday, the LAC presents one of the absolute pinnacles of sacred music: Beethoven’s Missa solemnis. I Barocchisti and the Swiss Radio and Television Choir, conducted by Diego Fasolis, bring to life a work of extraordinary intensity, in which the orchestra, choir and four soloists unite to create a powerful and deeply spiritual musical vision.

With over 550 performances, 250 recordings and an internationally recognised reputation, I Barocchisti – a leading ensemble in the performance of early music on period instruments – and the Swiss Radio and Television Choir, both conducted by Diego Fasolis, represent the very best of Switzerland’s musical scene. At the LAC they present the Missa solemnis, one of Beethoven’s most sublime and complex works, composed between 1819 and 1823 and considered, alongside Bach’s Mass in B minor, the pinnacle of German sacred music.
Originally commissioned for the investiture of Archduke Rudolf of Austria, the score soon transcended the boundaries of a ceremonial mass to take on a universal dimension, in which the spiritual meaning of the text is translated into a composition of vast proportions. Tradition and modern freedom converge in music of extraordinary power, imbued with choral vigour, dramatic tension and moments of profound introspection.
Guiding this journey is Diego Fasolis, a leading exponent of historically informed performance, at the helm of two ensembles that bring one of the most intense masterpieces of the sacred repertoire to the stage of the LAC.