With His Majesty King Charles III as patron and admirer, the multi-award-winning Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique have been the foremost choir on the international circuit for over 60 years, their consummate technique and historically informed performance leaving every listener awestruck.
Founded in 1964 by John Eliot Gardiner and having released over 150 recordings, as Le Monde so aptly proclaimed, “If there was a Nobel prize for choirs, the Monteverdi Choir should be its laureate,” while, after the choir performed with the English Baroque Soloists at the Coronation of HM King Charles III in 2023, The Daily Telegraph demanded, “If the Monteverdi Choir isn’t singing when I get to the gates of Heaven, I want my money back.”
Taking a brave new direction this autumn, the choir and orchestra’s monumental new concert, ‘Rossini: Sacred & Profane’, will premiere at London’s Cadogan Hall on 2nd October, granting audiences the unforgettable experience of hearing over 100 distinguished singers and musicians uniting to offer a fresh perspective on some of the most emotionally charged works ever composed by the Italian operatic genius, whose first opera was performed at the age of eighteen.
Carefully curated, semi-staged excerpts from Gioachino Rossini’s rarely performed opera Ermione (1819), based on Racine’s play Andromaque, will showcase the full force of soloists, orchestra and massed chorus, conveying the heart-pounding intensity of this violent drama set in the aftermath of the Trojan War and complemented by the powerful Stabat Mater (completed in 1841) in which Andromache grieves with her son in the ruins of Troy.
Next month’s concert features a stellar line-up of soloists including Beth Taylor, Ana Maria Labin, Hannah Ludwig, Alasdair Kent and Anthony Robin, while the orchestra will faithfully capture Rossini’s original intentions on period instruments, performing under the direction of Jakob Lehmann, the Artistic Director of Eroica Berlin, is making his debut with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique on 2nd October and is regarded as one of the most exciting young conductors in historically-inspired performance.
The Monteverdi Choir will perform ‘Rossini: Sacred & Profane’ at The Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, London SW1X 9DQ on 2nd October 2025 at 7.30pm. Running time approximately 2 hours 15 minutes. For more information and to book tickets please visit the box office.
