On Friday, April 3, 2026, at 8:00 PM, Maestro Vasily Petrenko will take the podium in the Sala Grande, leading the Orchestra and Choir of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Missa solemnis.
The concert marks the final symphonic event before the opening of the 88th Festival del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

The evening’s soloists are Eleanor Lyons, Marvic Monreal, Maximilian Schmitt, and Jongmin Park.

Florence, April 1, 2026 – On Friday, April 3 at 8:00 PM, in the Sala Grande of the Teatro del Maggio, the final symphonic concert before the opening of the 88th edition of the Festival del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino will take place.

On the podium, conducting the Orchestra and Choir of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, is Maestro Vasily Petrenko, making his debut at the Maggio.

Maestro Petrenko began his musical studies at the St. Petersburg Boys’ Choir School, the oldest music school in Russia, and since 2021 has been Music Director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a role that has led to a collaboration praised by both audiences and international critics. In the same year, he was appointed Conductor Laureate of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, following his acclaimed fifteen-year tenure as Chief Conductor. He has also collaborated with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and the Orchestre National de France.

Joining Maestro Petrenko for the evening are soprano Eleanor Lyons, mezzo-soprano Marvic Monreal, tenor Maximilian Schmitt, and bass Jongmin Park. The Chorus Master of the Maggio is Lorenzo Fratini.

On the program is Ludwig van Beethoven’s Missa solemnis in D major, Op. 123, one of the most monumental and representative works in the composer’s entire catalogue. It was composed between 1818 and 1823 and dedicated to Archduke Rudolf of Austria on the occasion of his appointment as Archbishop of Olomouc. Considered one of the most representative expressions of Beethoven’s genius, it was regarded by the composer himself as one of his greatest works.

The term Missa solemnis, already in use from the second half of the 18th century, referred to large-scale Mass settings of a concertante nature, composed for special occasions or important festivities.