Alessandro Stradella loved amorous risks. They repeatedly brought him into extreme danger, caused him a number of serious injuries and ultimately led to his early demise when he was assassinated in Genoa on 25 February 1682. The unsolved criminal story inspired no fewer than six operas between 1837 and 2017. but also obscured the real talent of the Bolognese aristocrat for far too long, whose melodic talent and fine dramatic sense could soften almost any mood. And not only on the big stage, but also in the form of intimate chamber cantatas, which often enough summarise the content of an entire life in poignant snapshots: Seneca's end, the fall of the general Belisarius, Nero's delirious triumph in the face of the Roman conflagration and the "Addio" of Marcus Antonius could possibly even have saved Stradella - if his murderers had heard the music in time.