A generation ago Rossini’s Ermione was as good as unknown. The author of one of the standard books on the composer clearly had not heard the opera, let alone seen it, and the work remained unperformed for more than 150 years until it was swept up in the revival of interest in Rossini’s tragic operas in the late 1970s.

One of the organisations most active in resuscitating the bel canto era has been Opera Rara. Its recordings and concerts, funded by the Peter Moores Foundation, have breathed life back into dozens of forgotten operas and it is sad news that its own survival may be threatened if it cannot find sources of financial support.

For Ermione imminent extinction no longer looks likely. There have been several stagings that prove it packs a punch in the theatre – notably at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro and the Glyndebourne Festival in 1995 – but Saturday’s concert performance and the subsequent recording are welcome, not least because the punch here was so uninhibited.

Although some of Opera Rara’s recent projects have involved period instruments, Ermione was given with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, a regular partner since 2000. Some elegant wind solos apart, this performance presented a picture of the opera painted in bold brushstrokes – only fleeting glimpses of early 19th-century grace, but a palette full of red-blooded, gutsy drama.

In spite of what its champions say, a lot of the music of Ermione is stock Rossini, measured by the yard. The only character who comes across as a recognisable individual is Ermione herself, sung with a clean, Italianate cut and much brio by Carmen Giannattasio. Her closing scene, as the conflicting emotions of love and vengeance tear Ermione’s mind in two, at last made the hair tingle on the back of one’s neck.

This is one of those awkward Rossini operas with three substantial high tenor parts. Colin Lee’s Oreste was the best, encompassing both force and sensitive singing up in the tenor’s stratosphere. It trumped Paul Nilon’s rather strained Pirro and the puppyish enthusiasm of Bülent Bezdüz’s Pilade. Patricia Bardon brought a certain stature to Andromaca. David Parry conducted the LPO and the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir with a noisy ebullience that was determined to raise the roof. ★★★☆☆

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