Famous as its title has become through Carl Orff's work of the same name, the original Carmina burana—a German manuscript collection of mostly secular songs, probably compiled in the early thirteenth century—is all but unknown to modern listeners. That it should be so is hardly surprising, since many of the pieces in the manuscript pose formidable editorial problems (inasmuch as they can be deciphered at all), and since virtually nothing is known about the manner in which they would have been performed and accompanied, nor about the circumstances under which they would have been heard. In short, it is improbable that any twentieth-century performance of songs from Carmina burana will ever come close to the original experience, and it would certainly be fairer to describe such modern reconstructions as the present one as little more than exotic entertainments loosely inspired by material from the manuscript, much as Orff's cantata is.

TESTORIDE ARGONAUTA (1780). Written for the court of Portugal, which was in the grip of an Italian opera craze that engulfed 18th-century Europe, this has a typical opera seria plot based on Greek mythology with extreme situations and graceful, expressive arias. The music may remind you of Mozart, but the composer's stature is actually closer to Cimarosa or Paisiello.

Fux was born to a peasant family in Hirtenfeld in Styria. Relatively little is known about his early life, but likely he went to nearby Graz for music lessons. In 1680 he was accepted at the Jesuit university there, where his musical talent became apparent. From 1685 until 1688 he served as organist at St. Moritz in Ingolstadt. Sometime during this period he must have made a trip to Italy, as evidenced by the strong influence of Corelli and Bolognese composers on his work of the time.

Famous as its title has become through Carl Orff's work of the same name, the original Carmina burana—a German manuscript collection of mostly secular songs, probably compiled in the early thirteenth century—is all but unknown to modern listeners. That it should be so is hardly surprising, since many of the pieces in the manuscript pose formidable editorial problems (inasmuch as they can be deciphered at all), and since virtually nothing is known about the manner in which they would have been performed and accompanied, nor about the circumstances under which they would have been heard.

Axur, re d'Ormus is an operatic dramma tragicomico in five acts by Antonio Salieri. The libretto was by Lorenzo da Ponte. Axur is the Italian version of Salieri's 1787 French-language work Tarare which had a libretto by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. Axur premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 8 January 1788, the title role being sung by Francesco Benucci, Mozart's first Figaro. It became one of the most famous operas in Vienna, being performed much more frequently than Mozart's Don Giovanni, which was first performed in Vienna on 7 May 1788.

Born in Venice, Sartorio composed 14 operas. He often made the long journey from Hanover, where he held the post of Maestro di Capella to the Duke of Brunswick, to compose and present new operas in his native city and recruit musicians for the German court. He is credited with introducing Italian opera to the Hanover court in 1672. Sartorio finally returned to Venice to be Maestro at St Mark’s where he composed sacred music, albeit not as much as the renowned Coffi might have been expected of him in that position.

Vivaldi, widely known as a violin virtuoso and composer, wrote no less than 49 operas. This opera, set in the historical Olympic games, displays some fantastic arias. The Clemencic Consort, under the direction of Rene Clemencic, gives an authentically based performance with a great cast of singers such as Elisabeth von Magnus and Gerard Lesne.

These recordings illustrate the Vivaldi's genius in a way comparable to that of the Four Seasons or the Concertos of Opus 10, they are too, a fresh and delightful demonstration of the art of bel canto.