Alessandro Stradella Consort - Alessandro Stradella: Cantatas & Serenatas Vol. 1

Despite the many scandals in his life, Alessandro Stradella rose to a position of great eminence in Rome, where his music was consistently acclaimed. At a time when opera was often denigrated by the Papacy, Stradella�s cantatas and serenatas proved enormously successful, their form housing a succession of recitatives, arias and instrumental pieces. The theme is the pain of love, to which Stradella responds with a limitless variety of expression and virtuosity, whether in the soprano echo effects of Arsi gi� di una fiamma, the near-operatic breadth of Or ch�alla dea notturna or the structural perfection of Infinite son le pene.