This recording takes us inside the palaces of early 17th-centrury Rome and presents a fascinating array of compositions that served as background to the lives of the contemporary aristocracy. As well as pieces by Stefano Landi, there are vocal and instrumental works by Girolamo Frescobaldi and Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger, two musicians who shared with Landi the patronage of the Barberini family.

Stefano Landi was a musician who throughout his career was able to develop and significantly alter his compositional style, adapting to his environment. As with many other composers of his generation, his language was initially modelled on Renaissance polyphony before evolving towards solo vocal models intended to suit both chamber and operatic contexts, opera being a genre to whose creation he contributed.