Scarlatti, A: Cantata 'Dimmi crudele, e quando'

This is a selection of rarely-heard intimate compositions by the incredibly prolific composer, Alessandro Scarlatti. He had great affinity with opera and indeed, wrote dozens of them. His dramatic vein shows itself in many of his smaller-scale vocal works too, particularly the secular (chamber) cantatas (of which genre he wrote no less than 820), duets and in the three intermezzos. In each case, the music conveys the precise meaning of the text, which is partly in dialect. Here, the composer achieves a unique level of expressiveness.