> Last week John Barbirolli, conductor of the New York Philharmonic, who is not generally considered a magician so far as programs are concerned, pulled an exciting Easter rabbit out of his hat. Assisted by the young, well-trained Westminster Choir of Princeton, N. J., the Philharmonic gave Manhattan an earful of Gioachino Antonio Rossini's rare Petite Messe Solennelle (Little Solemn Mass), which is neither little nor solemn. The Mass took almost two hours to perform, was full of the impish but not impious gaiety of Rossini's comic operas (Ceneventola, The Barber of Seville). Rossini, one of the laziest and wittiest...
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