The Tallis Scholars immerse themselves in Palestrina in 2025
500 years ago, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was born in Palestrina and later moved to Rome. The Tallis Scholars have been famous for performing his many mass settings and motets over their 50 year career. In 2025, they premiered a new work by Palestrina made from the remains of an unfinished manuscript for a Requiem from 1588 which was completed by Riccardo Pintus this year and performed by The Tallis Scholars at the Monteverdi Festival Cremona, to great critical acclaim. Throughout the year of 2025, The Tallis Scholars have been setting Palestrina alongside other great masters as they tour the world. On the 8 November they return to Santa Maria Maggiore, the great basilica in Rome where Palestrina was a chorister and where the late Pope Francis is buried, to perform works by Palestrina, Allegri, Josquin and Festa. The last time the ensemble performed in that church was in 1994 for their Live in Rome film which on that occasion marked 400 years since the death of the great composer.
Later in 2025, The Tallis Scholars will perform three high profile immersive concerts for the Boulez Saal shining a light on Palestrina though the music of Lassus, Victoria and Monteverdi.