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| Opera Rara ORC 12 | MRF 120 S (LP) | |
| Camilla | Nelly Miricioiu | Janet Price |
| Curiazo | Marcus Jerome | Richard Greager |
| Orazio | Anthony Michaels-Moore | Christian du Plessis |
| Vecchio Orazio | Alastair Miles | Malcolm King |
| Conductor | David Parry | K. Montgomery |
If conventional wisdom is to be believed, Mercadante had abandoned his reforms by the time Orazi e Curiazi was composed in 1846. This is true to some extent: there is more brass band, and there are perhaps more extensive solos in the ensembles than were present in some of his earlier works. But there is even more attention paid to the dramatic side than in previous operas, especially in the confrontations between Curiazo and Orazio (Act II) and between the latter and his sister (Act III), both of which reach feverish intensity. Generally speaking, any Italian opera of the 1840s and 1850s is going to be a mixture of the old and the new. The old, in Orazi e Curiazi can be characterized by his trademarks, especially the massive ensembles which can be found in many of his operas. The new will be forward looking touches, which will sometimes be major milestones, and sometimes just a few isolated arias. Some of these forward looking touches aria) are the unexpected plunge into terror in the soprano's Act II "La mia prece, il pianto accogli", and the introspective aria of Curiazio, in Act III, where he is torn between the two horns of an awful dilemma. He will either have to be branded an enemy of his homeland, or return to his beloved with her brother's blood on his hands. Orazi e Curiazi has other musical beauties as well, even if they are not necessarily innovative. The great trio of the swearing of the oath may well be reminiscent of and second only to that in Guglielmo Tell.
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