Musically speaking, it’s hard to disagree with Jo Liston’s enthusiastic 2019 review of the live production on which this latest release from Pinchgut Opera is based. Regarding Artistic Director Erin Halyard’s solution to Vivaldi’s puzzle (the opera is incomplete), there is however much more to say. But first, to the recording on its own terms.

Farnace, King of Pontus (Christopher Lowrey), stands at the brink of ruin, his pride turning feral under Roman pressure. His wife Tamiri (Helen Sherman) is the broken heart of the drama; her mother Berenice (Jacqueline Dark) has – with some justification, it seems – a severe case of Farnace Derangement Syndrome. Farnace’s sister Selinda (Taryn Fiebig) survives by wit and calculated charm, drawing into her orbit Gilade (Max Riebl), Berenice’s honourable captain, and Aquilio (Michael Petruccelli), the Roman prefect who mistakes appetite for love. Over them all stands Pompeo (Timothy Reynolds), the Roman general, arbiter of punishment and mercy; and at the centre of every threat and tenderness is the child – Farnace and Tamiri’s son (Matthew Simon).

Those familiar with Pinchgut’s house style will not be disappointed. While...