"La Finta Giardiniera has been unwisely neglected…. The music is always dramatically apt and frequently inventive. The opening of act three, in particular, has the sort of sweet, sad atmosphere of one of the great piano concerto adagios. And what once might have been considered the libretto's weakness of a diffuse, confused scramble of mismatches and pained redemption, actually plays quite well in the 21st century—certainly better than the faux religiosity of The Magic Flute…. The exemplary booklet [has] a fine essay on the opera, a summary, and artist biographies. As directed by Jean Jourdheuil, the action comes across with great clarity…. Jourdheuil references the comedy when appropriate, but the emphasis is on the mental distress and confusion of the wayward lovers. When they all congregate in a darkened garden, they wear lighted goggles, and still fumble around in the dark, unable to really locate each other."—Opera Today