23 Jun 2026
Christophe Rousset conducts Handel's Messiah at St Martin-in-the-Fields © Paul Marc Mitchell
harmonia mundi and the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras (MCO) have announced a new long-term recording partnership, launching with three recordings that reflect the ensemble’s ongoing collaborations with Pablo Heras‐Casado, Jakob Lehmann and Christophe Rousset.
Rosa Solinas, General Director of Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras, said:
“With this partnership we are bringing together two organisations that care about the same things: artistic excellence, curiosity, long-term relationships with artists, and recordings that are documents of living musical journeys. Our own label, SDG, has always allowed us to capture and share the work of our ensembles, as we have led and shaped the field of historically-informed performance. Now, with this collaboration, we are delighted to add harmonia mundi’s extraordinary expertise, international reach and a distinguished history of period-instrument recordings.”
Christian Girardin, Head of harmonia mundi, said:
“The Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras have shone brightly for many decades. It is therefore a tremendous honour for harmonia mundi to welcome these multi-talented musicians, who are determined to explore the repertoires of the 18th and 19th centuries with our teams. In doing so, they join the most eminent members of a great musical family founded nearly 60 years ago by Alfred Deller, and by so many other leaders right up to the present day. But beyond the prestige of the name ‘MCO’ throughout the world, it is the artistic plans which have captivated us all. By entrusting the reins of this multifaceted project to three conductors well known for their high standards and expertise in their respective fields, the musicians of the MCO have fully embraced what, on closer inspection, is much more than a fresh start. A new way of approaching the music of Handel, Rossini and Schubert. At a time when many historically informed ensembles are struggling to find a new lease of life, these prospects strike me as thoroughly encouraging!”
Each season, the MCO perform with a small number of specialist conductors, each focusing on a particular area of repertoire. These artistic partnerships between the MCO musicians and conductors are not simply about repertoire, they are about sustained artistic relationships which will now be reflected in the recordings issued by harmonia mundi and SDG.
Christophe Rousset conducts Handel's Messiah at St Martin-in-the-Fields © Paul Marc Mitchell
Christophe Rousset will focus on Handel and his recording of Messiah, recorded during last year’s European tour, will launch the partnership in October 2026. This autumn Rousset will conduct the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists in a European and South American tour of Handel’s Theodora, which will be recorded at the Sohmen Concert Hall at the Schwarzman Centre in Oxford. The rapport between Rousset and the MCO’s musicians has been widely praised and future recordings will include further Handel oratorios and instrumental works.
Jakob Lehmann conducts Rossini: Sacred & Profane at Cadagon Hall © Paul Marc Mitchell
MCO has turned to the brilliant young Rossini specialist Jakob Lehmann for its exploration of Rossini, a composer new to MCO and relatively unexplored on period instruments. The initial releases with Lehmann are of Rossini’s sacred works with the Stabat Mater recorded last year and the Petite Messe Solennelle later this year. The Messa di Gloria will follow, before turning to his operas in due course.
Pablo Heras-Casado conducts Mozart's Requiem at Teatro Galli © Teatro Galli/Sagra Musicale Malatestiana
Pablo Heras-Casado is a conductor well-known to the harmonia mundi family and with the MCO will bring his expertise in period instrument performance of 19th-century German repertoire to a series of recordings with Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique – beginning with Schubert in time for the anniversary year in 2028. Repertoire to be toured and recorded includes Schubert’s Mass in E flat, his Symphony No. 9 and the incidental music from Rosamunde.
For further information, please contact Victoria Bevan
[email protected] / 07917 764318
