Marianna Martines: a Spanish surname, but her father had moved from Naples to Vienna, where he was in the service of the papal nuncio. Marianna was born in Vienna in 1744 and she died there in 1812 but she certainly had Neapolitan connections: she was a protégée of Metastasio and a pupil of Hasse, Porpora and Bonno; she was also taught by the young Haydn, who was at the time a kind of dogsbody to Porpora. Dr Burney met her at Metastasio’s apartment in 1772 and was greatly impressed by her talents as composer, singer and harpsichord-player: ‘She sung two airs of her own composition…which she accompanied on the harpsichord, in a very judicious and masterly manner; and, in playing the ritornels, I could discover a very brilliant finger…She…is a most excellent contrapuntist.’

All the pieces but one on this charming disc were composed when Martines was in her twenties. The earliest are the works for harpsichord. The slow movement of the Sonata is a plaintive aria, just melody and bass. The Concerto begins with a rising triad, as in Bach’s E major Violin Concerto; so too does the Ouverture, a three-movement sinfonia. This work is scored for wind as well as strings: both are cheerful examples of the new galant style. Il primo amore, a cantata written in 1778, consists of two arias, each preceded by an accompagnato recitative. It’s unpretentiously tuneful, with coloratura passages; but for real depth, turn to Berenice, ah che fai?. This is a scena to the Metastasio text that Haydn was to set later. The dramatic interplay of voice and strings in the opening recitative is astonishingly accomplished.

Nicoleta Paraschivescu and her little band of woodwind, horns and single strings are powerful advocates and Nuria Rial is splendidly passionate in the scena. Buy the disc: you won’t regret it.