Rossini: Petite messe solennelle

The Monteverdi Choir’s versatility from 17th-century sacred music to 19th-century opera made them the ideal ensemble for this choral showpiece. The Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique – formed to bring the music of the 19th century to life on original instruments – drew on its deep experience of French Romantic repertoire to recreate the sound world of Rossini’s Paris. Together with a cast of exceptional soloists, they illuminated a work poised between devotion and drama, liturgy and theatre.

Described by Rossini as “the last of my péchés de vieillesse” (“sins of old age”), the Petite messe solennelle was originally scored for twelve singers, two pianos and harmonium. Rossini orchestrated the work in the final year of his life but never heard this version performed. Its Paris premiere, given by the Théâtre-Italien in 1869, took place just a few years before Alexandra Palace Theatre was completed in London.

For the first time in the modern era, Rossini’s orchestral version was performed on period instruments – original or replica instruments from the composer’s time – offering a unique opportunity to experience one of his final masterpieces as it would have sounded at its premiere.

Jakob Lehmann made his debut with the Monteverdi Choir in 2025, with The Times writing that “the Monteverdi Choir… sounded magnificent in the blazing fugue at the end of the [Rossini] Stabat Mater.” Following his recent BBC Proms debut, Bachtrack praised Lehmann as “a conductor of punctilious attention to detail and structure”. His reunion with a choir that “has dominated the choral scene worldwide for more than 50 years” (The Guardian) was an extraordinary event in one of London’s most atmospheric historic theatres.

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Rossini Petite messe solennelle - reviews and reactions