Can one imagine a more unusual and colorful character than Baron Emanuele d’Astorga? Reading the various biographies concerning him, one has the impression he lived...

Can one imagine a more unusual and colorful 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 on album, alternate with instrumental pieces by composers who had a close relationship with Lalli.