Cavalli has, of course, met Monteverdi. After all, Monteverdi was
his boss at San Marco, and they worked together on a few other occasions, too.
It is obvious that Cavalli was influenced by Him who was already seen as the greatest
composer of the time. After Monteverdi's death, Cavalli succeeded him on that
throne. He was even invited to Paris to write a festive opera for the wedding
of Louis XIV, Ercole Amante - a rare honour indeed, but for some obscure
reason, he was almost completely forgotten until not so long ago.
Cavalli's operas carry on the master's style although his later works reflect
a general development towards what would become the typical style of baroque
opera, i.e. a regular succession of recitativo - aria - rectitativo - aria etc.
At least he didn't give in to the new fashion of da capo arias, i.e.
arias divided into three parts where the third part was only a more elaborate
version of the first, allowing the singer to show off their coloratura.
All this was not exactly Cavalli's cup of tea - like Monteverdi he had never
clearly separated aria from recitativo and arioso which would have crippled
the realistic rendering of emotions -, so he failed to completely conform
to the new style and, towards the end of his successful life, - guess what?
- went out of style.
What a pity! For what followed was dry and stiff compared to what the early
baroque opera composers put together. Just think on it: Wagner and Verdi have
been celebrated for breaking up the aria - recitativo - aria rule although it
wasn't a new idea at all! I deeply deplore the scarcity of Monteverdi and Cavalli
recordings. Those two are my all-time favourites.
Try Xerse on Harmonia Mundi HMC 901175.78. I am much in favour of
the René Jacobs recordings because of the lively and playful atmosphere that is,
I think, due to the instrumentation. L'Ormindo, La Didone,
Ercole Amante and La Calisto have also been recorded, as
well as the Vespro della Beata Vergine in the sacral department.
I have sequenced some arias from his opera L'Ormindo, the only score I could get my hands on. Check them out o the MIDI page.