Born in Bavaria in 1763, at the age of 26 Johann Simon Mayr moved to Italy where he became known as Giovanni Simone. As one of the most celebrated opera composers of his era, he wrote a remarkable 70 works between 1794 and 1820, finally settling down in Bergamo where he imparted his craft to the young Gaetano Donizetti.

Amor non ha ritegno (Love knows no bounds) premiered at La Scala in 1804 where it enjoyed considerable success. Described as a melodramma eroicomico (a heroic-comic melodrama), it’s a semiseria work that combines romantic situations with appropriately lyrical music and a generous dollop of buffo (it’s based, after all, on a comedy by the great Carlo Gozzi, a champion of the Commedia dell’arte).

The plot revolves around Donna Luigia, the recently widowed Princess of Zamora. One by one, a trio of wannabe suitors arrive. There’s the resourceful Duke Alessandro, who’s wise enough to disguise himself as a philosopher, the German Baron Fulsbergo, whose Italian is execrable, and Don Morione, a bumptious braggart...