Nicola Fago (1677-1745) was one of the leading practitioners of the chamber cantata, a kind of mini-opera for voice and ensemble. This genre, brought to...

Nicola Fago (1677-1745) was one of the leading practitioners of the chamber cantata, a kind of mini-opera for voice and ensemble. This genre, brought to perfection by several generations of composers working in the aristocratic courts in Naples, has only recently attracted the attention of musicologists. The six examples by Fago recorded here, for the first time, reveal him to have been a master of the genre: they are dramatic, full of rhythmic excitement and stuff with catchy tunes.