An Israeli singer at the Vatican
Soprano Chen Reiss sings in front of 700 million viewers at Christmas Mass led each year by pope.
Israeli opera singer Chen Reiss, 35, received an honor that other Israeli singers can only dream about. She appeared Thursday at a Christmas Mass led by the Pope in the Vatican's St. Peters Basilica.
The Christmas Mass is the most significant one held at the Vatican. There were 8,000 participants, while another 3,000 stood in the piazza and watched on an enormous screen. About 700 million Catholics tune in to the broadcast every year.
This was the second mass led by Pope Francis since he was elected little more than a year ago. The Israeli soprano sang Mozart's "Et Incarnatus Est" at the request of the Pope, who has said that the composition brings the listener closer to God. The mass tells the story of the Virgin Mary and how the holy spirit caused the birth of Jesus.
The Vatican discovered Reiss via Vienna's Philharmonic Symphony. She sang the same composition with the symphony at a festival for religious music two years ago. The pope himself was only told that the singer was Israeli 24 hours before the mass. "I approve very much, because Mary was also Jewish," he said.
Before the mass, Reiss had a short meeting with the pope, who thanked her for coming especially to sing the Mozart piece.
"I was treated very well and everyone greeted me in Hebrew," she said. "It was a very exciting position to be in. Without a doubt, this was the most thrilling performance I've had. It was broadcast around the entire Christian world to hundreds of millions of people. There was a TV camera right in front of my face, and I realized that I really was being seen live around the world. It's one of the most virtuosic works Mozart ever wrote. Performing it at the Vatican next to the Pope was very emotional."
Reiss was born in Holon and raised in Herzliya, the eldest of four children. Her father was a Hungarian-born car mechanic who owned a garge and her mother was a singer in the theater, opera, and choir.
Reiss's talent was cultivated by conductor Zubin Mehta, and 2003 she received a contract at Munich's Bavarian State Opera. Since 2006, she has worked independently and appeared around the globe. She has an ongoing association with the Vienna State Opera.
She currently lives in London with her spouse and young daughter.
