Italian cantatas were written for chamber performance in the
homes of the various Italian noblemen who became his patrons.
Direct information about the cantatas is limited and we need to
examine a variety of sources to get some idea of the timing of
their first performances. The bills for having the music copied
provide one source of information, but these copies might
reflect a patron’s desire to possess the music rather than being
a record of the first performance. A further source of
information is the paper on which the autograph manuscripts are
written as this varied from city to city as Handel made his
peregrination been invited to visit Florence he first stopped
off in Venice, where the Venetian style of opera caught his
attention. He then moved on to Florence and then to Rome. It is
from this first period (1706 – 1707) that the works on this disc
come. From May to October 1707 Handel was employed by Cardinal
Ruspoli and many of the cantatas that he wrote were designed to
be performed at the meetings o