Cavalli composed more than 40 operas. Less than a dozen have been recorded. L'Orione an opera in three acts and a prologue is about No. 27 and was first heard in Milan in 1653 to celebrate the election of Ferdinand IV as King of the Romans. This September 27, 1998 performance (in a new critical edition by Andrea Marcon derived from the manuscript in the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice) in Venice is the first in the modem era. The plot is derived from the ancient Greek legend of the giant Orion told in Ovid's Fasti, rewritten in Natale Conte's Mythologiae, and finally dramatized in Francesco Meloslo's libretto for Cavalli. The libretto takes the opportunity for humor, using the plight of the blind Orion to make fun of the gods, as was common in so many Venetian librettos of the time.

World Premiere - this is the first ever recorded performance of Rossini’s La Gazzetta.
The Nobel Prize-winning writer Dario Fo applies his inventive genius to Rossini's comic opera in its premiere DVD release. Recorded in 2005 under the musical direction of Maurizio Barbacini, Fo's production brings fresh vitality and colour to the story of Lisetta, and of her father's attempts to find a husband for her through an advertisement in the newspaper La Gazzetta.

Farnace was apparently one of Vivaldi's favorite operas, because he mounted numerous productions in various cities, and wrote six versions of the score, more than of any of his other operas. The conventions of operatic vocal characterizations that came to be standard – higher voices in the sympathetic roles, and lower voices in villainous roles – had not yet been established, and Farnace features a baritone and contralto in the heroic roles, with a soprano as the villain. Soprano Adriana Fernández shines as the wicked Berenice, who is redeemed at the very last minute. She has a full, creamy voice that she deploys appealing agility and warmth. As Tamira, contralto Sara Mingardo sings with power, authority, and deep feeling. In the title role, baritone Furio Zanasi is appropriately heroic, with a rich, refined timbre and the expressive depth to create sympathy for the conflicted protagonist, but he doesn't always have the necessary strength at the bottom of his range. One of his arias, the lyrical and poignant "Gelido in ogni vena," is among the composer's loveliest creations.