Rossini’s ceaseless wit and invention are best exemplified in his series of operas. His colourful orchestration and command of both comic and tragic elements can be savoured in this second of four volumes of the complete symphonic overtures.

Witty and vital, but also darker and rather less well known, Rossini’s overtures cover a wide variety of moods and expressions. This disc includes the perennial favourite La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder), and the witty Guillaume Tell. With little known operatic overtures included, it makes for a finely balanced programme; and whilst the favourites have been multiply recorded, others are very much underrepresented in the catalogue.

Christian Benda is chief conductor and artistic director of the Prague Sinfonia Orchestra with which he has recorded numerous widely praised Naxos recordings of standard classical works, as well as Schubert’s and Rossini’s complete overtures.

Volume 1 (8570933) was described by MusicWeb International as “an admirable start to what looks like being a very desirable series”.