Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) is considered one of the foremost Italian composers of the late baroque era and was, until just before 1700, the central figure in the formation of an own Napolitan opera tradition.
After writing a whole series of successful operas between 1685 and 1702, Scarlatti was hoping that with a trip to Rome in 1702, he would manage to get appointed at the court of the De’ Medici, a dream that would not come true. In spite of this, he would frequently travel to Rome and compose several concertos, cantatas, oratorio and operas there (amongst others his last opera ‘Griselda’).
In Rome Scarlatti dedicated himself – apart from opera, which was only barely tolerated by the strong papal censorship – to the seranata, an extensive vocal composition of roughly one hour for several vocal soloists and orchestra.
Scarlatti was commissioned to compose ‘Clori e Zeffiro’ by the extremely wealthy bankers family Corsini, who had the work performed at a garden wedding party. But even after the celebration, it knew a big success.
Together with ‘Clori e Zeffiro’ no less than 28 serenatas of Scarlatti remain, each one contain very captivating music. The lyrics have a pastoral character and paint us an elaborate picture of a certain situation. Because of this, Scarlatti could put more effort in the musical development of the individual arias and recitatives than was common in opera. A very grateful and colorful music score!