Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique

The Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique (ORR) specialises in the music of the 19th and early-20th Centuries. It has won plaudits for its stylistic fidelity and intensity of expression in works by major early-Romantic composers, from Berlioz to Beethoven, as well as later works by composers ranging from Verdi to Debussy.

The ORR performs with some of the world’s leading conductors specialising in historically informed performance. In August 2026 Sir Mark Elder made his debut with the Orchestra, performing Weber’s rarely heard opera Oberon in its 200th anniversary year as part of the BBC Proms. This followed the 2025 debut of Pablo Heras-Casado, who conducted performances of Schubert’s Fifth Symphony and Mozart’s Requiem in London and Italy; he will return in 2027 for a European tour of the ORR’s first ever performances of Beethoven’s Fidelio in the composer’s anniversary year, before turning to the work of Schubert in 2028 on the concert platform and on record as part of MCO’s partnership with harmonia mundi.

In September 2026, Jakob Lehmann returns to continue the ORR’s ground-breaking exploration of Rossini on period instruments. This journey, which began in October 2025 with the Stabat Mater and scenes from Ermione, will continue with the Petite messe solennelle at Alexandra Palace Theatre in the first contemporary performance and recording of the piece on period instruments. This is the latest in the ORR’s series of ambitious composer explorations. In the summer of 2023, the Orchestra performed Berlioz’s Les Troyens on a critically acclaimed European tour, conducted by Dinis Sousa, having given the first complete staged performances in Paris in 2003. In 2019 they marked the 150th anniversary of the composer’s death with the first contemporary performances of his opera Benvenuto Cellini on period instruments.

Other landmark projects have included Schumann Revealed and Brahms: Roots and Memories, in which the orchestra recorded the complete symphonies of each respective composer. Additionally, the ORR has performed operas by composers including Weber (Oberon and Le Freyschütz), Bizet (Carmen), Chabrier (L’Étoile), Verdi (Falstaff) and Debussy (Pelléas et Mélisande) in new productions in France, Italy and London.

In May 2024 the ORR, conducted by Dinis Sousa, performed Beethoven’s complete symphonies at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London and a selection of his symphonies at the Philharmonie de Paris. The ORR’s recordings of Beethoven’s symphonies have been described as a ‘tour de force…played at white heat’, ‘glorious’ and ‘magnificent’ by Gramophone magazine.

"The period instrumentalists of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique revelled in the nascent romanticism of Weber’s score... The chance to hear such a stylish complete performance won’t come round often."

The Times

"Performances of radiant intensity and commitment...with an electric crackle of excitement tempered by virtuosic swagger and – not least – infectious fun."

The Arts Desk