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Il Matrimonio Segreto ("The Secret Marriage"), the most popular of Domenico Cimarosa's 65 operas, receives a bright, polished performance in this Cologne Opera production. The music is light and witty, not quite up to Mozart's level of complexity but dating from the same era, similar in style and well worth repeated hearings. The plot is absurd and complex, involving a social-climbing Italian father who wants his elder daughter to marry a British lord, who prefers to wed the (already secretly married) younger daughter. Michael Hampe's stage direction is sensitive to the music's flow and brings a welcome clarity to the plot's many twists and deceptions. The orchestra, playing on period instruments under the direction of Harry Griffiths, helps to create a convincing atmosphere. Outstanding, in a cast that has no weaknesses, are Carlos Feller as the ambitious father Geronimo, Georgine Resick and David Kuebler as the secretly married couple, and Claudio Nicolai as the poor but proud Count Robinson. --Joe McLellan
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