Cathedral Concert with Gardiner Following the unexpected cancellation of the Sistine Chapel Choir’s concert at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival, Cecilia Bartoli and the Salzburg Festival are pleased to announce that John Eliot Gardiner and his ensembles – both the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists – will step in at short notice for the concert in Salzburg Cathedral. Gardiner will conduct music composed for Pentecost by Tomás Luis de Victoria and Heinrich Schütz, as well as polyphonic masterpieces by Henry Purcell, Johann Sebastian Bach and Claudio Monteverdi. These will include the refined writing of the Messa a quattro voci da cappella, which was likely composed for a Christmas mass in San Marco and only published following Monteverdi’s death. Monteverdi was known for his complete dedication to restoring music at San Marco to its former glory and also engaged new singers, including castrati, to bring vocal glamour to the choir’s high voices. He sought to make ties with instrumentalists by offering them fixed contracts and wrote musical works for the major feasts of the church.

Because of the changes to the programme and performers, the concert will begin at the different time of 8:00 p.m., with admission to the cathedral from 7:30 p.m.

Tickets previously purchased for the Sistine Chapel Choir will remain valid for this concert.