It may seem a little strange to put a Mass by an Italian
composer and Bach's Magnificat together on one disc. But it
makes a lot of sense, since Bach was a great admirer of Antonio
Lotti's sacred music. Lotti was born in Venice, and received his
musical education from Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690), 'maestro
di cappella' of San Marco. Lotti himself became a falsetto
singer (1689) and later second organist (1702) at San Marco. He
composed many sacred works, both for San Marco and the
'ospedali' in Venice. He also got the reputation of being one of
the leading opera composers in the city. It was this reputation
which brough him the invitation to Dresden by the Prince Elector
of Saxony, Friedrich August. From 1717 to 1719 Lotti composed
and performed five operas in Dresden. During those years he and
his musicians also regularly performed sacred music, which made
a great impression in Dresden Among the composers who admired
Lotti's music was Jan Dismas Zelenka. Around 1730 he copied the
Missa Sapientiae - which co