The Daily Dispatch: May 10, 1864., [Electronic resource]

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Rossini's latest composition

--Rossini's new mass was produced on March 14th, at the residence of the composer's friend, Count Wippern, near Paris, before about five hundred people. It is written for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass solo, with chorus, and on this occasion was accompanied on two pianos and a harmonium. Rossini was present, and the Sisters Marchislof, with Gardoni and Agnesi, were the singers, the chorus numbering only twenty voices, while among the audience were Meyerbeer, Auber; Carafa, Mario, Duprez, and other composers and artists. The composition, though often florid, is yet described as very grand and fully worthy of the great master. The most noticeable features of the mass are a Kyrie, a majestic Gloria, a "Cruelfixion" solo, a Sanctus, sung by an unaccompanied chorus, and a fugue, Cum Sanctu Spritu. After the performance, the ladies present insisted on kissing Rossini. Meyerbeer called him "Jupiter," Auber, in burlesque patronage, said ‘"he has talents worthy cultivation;’" and Bagler, the director of the Italian opera, offered him as much as $60,000 for a new opera.