Can one imagine a more unusual and colourful character than Baron Emanuele d’Astorga? Reading the various biographies concerning him, one has the impression he lived a thousand lives ... He fled Sicily around 1707 and met the Neapolitan poet and librettist Domenico Lalli, hailed by Goldoni as a ‘poetic genius’, who was to collaborate with many of the most important composers of the time, including Alessandro Scarlatti, Handel, Vivaldi, Albinoni and Caldara. The two men then forged a firm friendship in their travels across Italy with Rome as their destination.
The ensemble Les Abbagliati has devised a programme built around these two protagonists. Three cantatas by d'Astorga and Giovanni Battista Bononcini respectively, recorded here for the first time, alternate with instrumental pieces by composers who had a close relationship with Lalli. © Ramée