John Eliot Gardiner enlightens with Beethoven's Missa Solemnis in Orange County

By Matthew Richard Martinez, 21 November 2012

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Reviewed at Segerstrom Center for the Arts: Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Costa Mesa on 19 November 2012

Beethoven, Mass in D major, “Missa solemnis”, Op.123

Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique

Monteverdi Choir

Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Conductor

Elisabeth Meister, Soprano

Jennifer Johnston, Mezzo-soprano

Michael Spyres, Tenor

Matthew Rose, Bass

A triumph against the odds: Les Troyens at the BBC Proms

Mark Valencia, 3rd September

Dinis Sousa doesn't put a foot wrong as the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and Monteverdi Choir give a performance of startling virtuosity at the end of a European tour.

*****

Prom 59: Berlioz with a bronze glow

Mark Pullinger, 2nd September

To mark the 150th anniversary of the composer's death, Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts the opera charting the escapades of the Italian goldsmith and sculptor.

****1

A mortal nothingness: Verdi's Requiem at Westminster Cathedral

Olivia Bell, 18th September

This concert was inevitably the sum of far more than its parts, and not for nothing are the Monteverdi Choir and the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantiquem, regarded as among the best in the world

Byron's Harold the unlikely star in Gardiner's Berlioz Prom

Mark Pullinger, 5th September

Antoine Tamestit takes a peripatetic approach to Byron's brooding hero, while Joyce DiDonato dies – twice – as Cleopatra and Dido.

*****

Prom 31: An intoxicating La Damnation de Faust

Mark Valencia, 8th August

An unapologetic treat at the Proms and a composition of immediate appeal.

****1

Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette with the ORR

Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres, 30th July

Prom 20 proved an exhilarating journey, featuring Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette as one of the key works of this year’s BBC Proms' Shakespeare 400 celebrations.

****1

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Matthew Richard Martinez

A professional conductor living in Costa Mesa, California, Matthew received Bachelor of Music and MFA degrees from University of California, Irvine. An avid sports fan, when he’s not conducting or listening to music, he can be found cheering for his hometown San Diego Padres.