One of the arias in this unknown opera seemed puzzlingly familiar. A quick search of the bookshelves and there it was: “Signor bravo” is cited as an example of Cesti’s “motto” mannerism in Manfred F Bukofzer’s “Music in the Baroque Era”, obligatory reading for music undergraduates of my generation.

And that – along with awestruck acknowledgement of Bukofzer’s researches – is, I’m afraid, the most interesting thing to be said about Le disgrazie d’Amore, translated here as “The Misadventures of Love”. Cesti’s most celebrated opera is Le pomo d’oro (“The Golden Apple”: not “The Tomato”, as a now distinguished libretto translator once thought – much to the amusement of her tutor, Egon Wellesz); Le disgrazie, likewise composed for the Habsburg court in Vienna, was staged in 1667, the year before.

The opera begins promisingly: the Prologue is sung by Allegria, whose appropriately cheerful triple-time refrain, “È tempo, sì, sì”, is charmingly sung by Cristiana Arcari. Other moments of pleasure are provided by the occasional ensemble and by richly scored string ritornellos. But these are not enough to hold one’s attention over two and a half hours. It’s the reams of secco recitative that sink the piece for the modern listener, and I do mean reams: the second disc plays for 78 minutes, of which nearly 60 are taken up by recitative, with an occasional brief expansion into arioso.

This lively and stylish performance will be useful to lecturers but others are likely to be bored to death.