Giacchino Rossini and his global impact

Jakob Lehmann, known to Rossini lovers for his exquisite recording of L’Italiana in Algeri, and his superb conducting for Teatro Nuovo, makes a case in this video for Rossini’s global impact which surpassed Mozart’s at the time. Of course Rossini had some exceptional singers at his disposal, but what is often forgotten is that there Rossini was pushing the boundary with the orchestra as well. Modern orchestras tend to blur this quality and Lehmann makes a great argument for examining the role of the orchestra and the types of instruments that were used that the time.

From the Youtube notes:

Conductor Jakob Lehmann makes his London debut with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique on 2 October 2025, launching a new series dedicated to exploring the music of Gioachino Rossini on period instruments. In this video, Lehmann discusses Rossini’s place as one of the most successful composers of his time, his distinctive style, and the impact of performing his works in historically informed contexts, as well as his own journey into music and his first collaboration with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras. The programme features two contrasting works: excerpts from Rossini’s opera Ermione (1819), a rarely performed drama set after the Trojan War, and the Stabat Mater (1841), one of the composer’s major sacred works.