First performed at Vienna’s Burgtheater in February 1792 (almost two months to the day after Mozart’s death), Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto was so well liked by Leopold II that he ordered a repeat performance to be given in private later the same evening. Four of the cast had worked with either Mozart in Vienna or Haydn at Eszterháza. Bertati’s libretto is based on George Colman and David Garrick’s play The Clandestine Marriage (Drury Lane, 1766). The upwardly mobile but somewhat deaf merchant Geronimo aspires to join Bologna’s aristocracy through expedient marriages for his daughters Elisetta and Carolina, although the latter already secretly married Paolino (her father’s clerk) two months ago. The young husband attempts to avert disaster by arranging a match between Elisetta and Count Robinson. However, when the nobleman arrives, he dislikes Elisetta, much prefers the younger sister Carolina, and agrees terms with her father. Meanwhile, Paolino fends off advances from his father-in-law’s widowed sister Fidalma. The newly-weds decide to run away but their nocturnal escape fails; they admit to their marriage, the count rectifies the imbroglio by agreeing to marry Elisetta, and Geronimo accepts the situation.

The period instrumentalists of Academia Montis Regalis play with theatrical verve and sure-footed dynamic shading. Woodwinds are excellent, whereas ragged violins suffer from tuning imperfections – but that is part and parcel of a warts-and-all live recording made in August 2016 during a run of staged performances at the Innsbruck Early Music Festival, replete with applause between scenes, plenty of audience mirth at comic antics on stage, an overly loud harpsichord in recitatives and even a few brief tuning breaks. On the plus side, throughout the drama there are judiciously balanced orchestral textures and an adroit sense of pacing from Alessandro De Marchi.

Carolina’s self-deprecating rebuff of Robinson (‘Perdonate, signor mio’) displays Giulia Semenzato’s comic timing and delivery. Elisetta’s haughty anticipation that Robinson will appreciate her properly once her sister is exiled to a convent is sung brilliantly by Klara Ek (‘Se son vendicata’). Fidalma’s infatuation for Paolino (‘È vero che in casa’) is sung with touching sincerity by Loriana Castellano. Paolino’s rondo suggesting to the distressed Carolina that they escape that night (‘Pria che spunti in ciel aurora’, with concertante clarinet) is sung too forcefully by Jesús Álvarez. Renato Girolami sings wittily as Robinson; his loquacious catalogue aria ‘Son lunatico bilioso’ attempts to upset Elisetta with a long list of his character defects: he is a bad-tempered, violent, hypochondriac, sleepwalking, adulterous, gluttonous drunkard with an incurable gambling problem (she refuses to take the bait). Donato Di Stefano’s prideful Geronimo sounds suitably mature and ridiculous. Ensembles are highly effective, especially a lovely performance of the quintet ‘Deh, lasciate ch’io respiri’ (also with fine clarinet solos), a lyrical aria for the beleaguered Carolina that is derailed when her angry family gangs up on her and insists she must go to a convent, while Robinson is baffled by their insane behaviour. This spirited performance captures the playfulness and affectionate tone of Cimarosa’s comedy.