Francesco Cavalli was of great importance to the history of 17th century Italian music - his fame established in the then new and swiftly evolving world of opera. Cavalli's sacred music has often been compared to Monteverdi but, drawn from a wonderful anthology published at the apex of his career as a composer, the stylistic and expressive richness documented by the pieces in this program delivers a strong overview of the variety and power of his musical language. The originality in Cavalli's style was in finding an ideal means of expression for the feelings and emotions suggested by the text, breaking down the boundaries between sacred and secular, and creating a more serene merging of artistic and religious sensibilities.