The history of Donizetti’s Rita, completed in 1839 but left unperformed at the composer’s death, is of a complexity out of all proportion with the work itself (the synopsis fills half a page of the booklet here; the accompanying essay, by the editor of the critical edition on which the recording is based, takes up a full 14). This new release restores the original text – with linking dialogue – as well as the opera’s original subtitle; Deux hommes et une femme is considerably less off-putting than the La femme battu that was used when the work was finally premiered – after all sorts of legal and familial wranglings – at Paris’s Opéra-Comique in 1860.

One’s enthusiasm for the score’s springy rhythms and easy melodic invention might justifiably still be dampened by the libretto and its jovial engagement with the theme of domestic violence. But if you can take that in the spirit it was surely meant – it features standard comic types, and arguably only makes explicit what is usually implicit in so many comic operas – there’s an enormous amount to enjoy. And on this recording, the chief pleasure is probably the gloriously buoyant and beautifully turned playing of the Hallé Orchestra, with Mark Elder finding an ideal balance between subtlety and airy exuberance.

The ‘two men and a woman’ Opera Rara has found clearly enjoy themselves immensely, too, and the sense of fun is infectious. As the formidable Rita, Katarina Karnéus communicates the necessary strength of voice and character but is always ready to introduce a smile into the sound. Barry Banks sings with a good comic touch as poor Pepé, sounding nervous and, when he sees a way out of his unwanted marriage, suitably overjoyed. As Rita’s former husband – presumed dead – Christopher Maltman is appropriately confident and forceful. There could be a bit more in the way of bel canto elegance from both men but they and Karnéus put the action across vividly, in excellent sung and spoken French.