Among Domenico Cimarosa's comic operas, Il matrimonio segreto is the most famous and best loved. Cimarosa was popular throughout Italy because he wrote for the Italian people, in a language with which they were familiar. His dramas are quickly paced, his humor drew on Italian theater traditions, his melodies are beautiful, singable, and extremely pleasing. His vocal writing is constantly varied, combining voices in new ways and setting words in varied ways: patter, secco recitative, a cappella part writing, and concerted ensembles. Before Cimarosa's day, vocal ensembles were usually reserved for the grand finale of each act.

Il matrimonio segreto was composed for the Vienna court opera. Cimarosa had been hired by the Empress Catherine the Great of Russia as her court composer. But by the time he took the post, the Russian court had ceased to put money into its operatic productions. He stayed in Russia until his contract expired, but then left to return to Italy. He passed through Vienna and wrote Il matrimonio segreto for the Emperor Leopold I. It was premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on February 7, 1792, to rave reviews. The production was such a success that every number was encored. Leopold was so happy with the opera that he asked the exhausted company to perform it a second time that same evening. Cimarosa was asked to stay on at the court of Leopold I as music director. However, Leopold soon died and the composer Salieri was reinstated, leaving Cimarosa without an official position. Cimarosa returned to Italy. But there the opera was just as popular as it had been in Vienna, if not more so. It became an international success and was translated into 10 different languages and performed in as many different countries. It is one of the few eighteenth century opere buffe to have been revived in the twentieth century, and it remains in the repertoire of opera houses in the twenty first.

The libretto for the work was written by Giovanni Bertati. It is an exceptionally fine text, with neatness of construction and stylish comedy. The source for the libretto was a British satire called The Clandestine Marriage, which in turn has as its origins Mariage a la mode by Hogarth. It lacks some of the underlying "heart" of Mozart's music, but by any other measure it compares well. The plot is, of course, about an attempt to thwart the leading couple's true love. In fact, Carolina and Paolino have married secretly because of the opposition of her father, the greedy Geronimo, a Bolognese merchant. Paolino believes that he can win the old man's acceptance by engineering a marriage between Geronimo's other daughter, Elisetta, to a wealthy young English Count. This backfires when Elisetta falls in love with Paolino and the Count with Carolina. The secretly married lovers then flee in desperation and are captured. When they reveal they are marriedm Geronimo accepts the fait accompli, any bitterness over the fact being alleviated when Elisetta and the Count decide they love each other, after all, and decide to marry.

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