Love, hate, longing. Fear – these Mayr knits into some lovely ensembles, show-stopping soprano solo arias, and shimmering solo instrumental parts…But as a melodist he falters: his arias just aren’t ear-catching. Of the cast, Yvonne Prentki as the heroine is the star: a young prize-winning coloratura, she sings in stratospherically high registers with careless ease.

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Mayr’s score maintains the late Classical style with Haydn and Mozart in the background, although there is perhaps a certain prefiguring of Rossini in the melodic shapes and busy instrumental writing…Mayr’s leading champion Franz Hauk gives a performance founded on a capable period-instrument orchestra with particularly punchy horns; the choral forces are solid and the conductor himself brings a dynamic approach to his task.