Haydn's 'True Constancy' was written for his great patrons the Esterhazy family, and first performed at their palace in 1779. A true ensemble piece, it tells of the fishermaid Rosina, whose constancy to Count Errico (to whom she is secretly married and by whom she has a child) is tested by a plotting Baroness and her entourage. An extravagant tale — with a happy ending — gives Haydn opportunities for a score bristling with impressive individual arias and outstanding multipartite finales.
Royal Academy Opera Orchesta under Trevor Pinnock. The director is Jamie Hayes, in his first full opera for the Academy.