3 Oct 2025
© Paul Marc Mitchell
The Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique captivated audiences at Cadogan Hall on 2 October with powerful performances of Rossini’s Ermione and Stabat Mater under the direction of Jakob Lehmann. They were joined by outstanding soloists Beth Taylor, Ana Maria Labin, Hannah Ludwig, Alasdair Kent, and Anthony Robin Schneider.
"The Monteverdi Choir… sounded magnificent in the blazing fugue that evokes the gates of Paradise opening at the end of the Stabat Mater."
★★★★ "The choir throughout, was magnificent, whether delineating the funereal counterpoint of the final chorus, or providing the precisely timed and tuned a cappella interjections in ‘Eja Mater’."
"Both sacred and profane Rossini in an evening of extremes from strong operatic emotions, to bouncy quasi-opera buffa solos, all supported by strong, vivid orchestral detail ... This hour of music from the opera was a wonderful taster for the full thing, and I was impressed by the way the singers were able to conjure the characters and strong emotions from a few scenes. Orchestrally, the mix for strength and delicacy was particularly noticeable. There were lots of individual instrumental highlights and in many places the complexity of Rossini's orchestral writing was matched by a fine array of timbres and textures."
"Lehmann has an obvious ear for theatricality. The three imposing chords at the start of the Prelude, underpinned by cymbals, sounded very Beethovenian, with wonderfully delicate pizzicati to follow, a full-throated lament for the state of Troy from the magnificent Monteverdi Choir, and not least the composer’s trademark string crescendo providing all the ingredients for a sparkling start. The precision of the orchestral playing left sufficient space for many of the instrumental details to register"
"The Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique – conducted by Jakob Lehmann – presented a wonderfully divided and thrilling programme"
"Every singer here, the choir not least, was entirely idiomatic ... I long for more Rossini concerts such as Thursday’s."
"Lehmann had the intriguing idea of prefacing this [Stabat Mater] somewhat operatic religious work with tantalising excerpts from Ermione, one of Rossini’s last Neapolitan opere serie"
Operalogue
© Paul Marc Mitchell
