Gioachino Antonio Rossini

PROGRAMME: Rossini Scenes from Ermione Rossini Stabat Mater PERFORMERS: Monteverdi Choir Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique Jakob Lehmann conductor One of the most exciting young conductors in the field of historically-inspired performance, Jakob Lehmann, makes his Monteverdi Choir debut in a programme that begins a groundbreaking long-term exploration of the music of Gioachino Rossini on period instruments. Rossini’s opera Ermione (1819) is one the best-kept secrets of his output – a vibrant drama set in the aftermath of the Trojan War. The sequence of excerpts chosen for this concert consists of dazzling music for soloists, orchestra and chorus. His passionate Stabat Mater, from much later in his career, is linked to the earlier opera by the idea of motherhood: Andromache grieves with her son in the ruins of Troy for her husband, Hector, while the Virgin Mary grieves for her son, the crucified Christ.