VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The conductor Zubin Mehta performed with an Italian orchestra at the Vatican Feb. 4 in a concert honoring Pope Benedict XVI and Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.

The concert, which marked the 84th anniversary of the Lateran Pacts recognizing the sovereignty of Vatican City State, was organized by the Italian embassy to the Holy See and held in the Vatican audience hall.

Mehta and the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino played for about an hour, performing works by Verdi and Beethoven.

Pope Benedict commented on each of the compositions in his remarks after the concert. Verdi’s symphony, “La Forza del Destino,” the pope said, portrays the “drama of human existence marked by a tragic destiny and by yearning for God, for his mercy and love, which offer light, meaning and hope even in the darkness.”