Rossini Ermione
Soloists; Geoffrey Matchell Choir; LPO  / David Parry Opera Rara ORC42

“The 19th century’s finest operatic treatment of a subject drawn from Greek tragedy” was how Richard Osborne assessed this “nascent masterpiece”, which was not performed after 1819 until the Pesaro Festival’s revival of 1987 – “one of the unsolved mysteries of operatic history”. This Opera Rara recording “runs at white heat whenever Colin Lee’s Orestes is on stage” and, while the Opera Rara chorus disappoints, Carmen Giannattasio in the title-role is “the mistress of every phrase”.

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