- Genre: Easy Listening
- Followed By: Alessandro Scarlatti
Cesti was the most famous musician of his time both as a singer and a composer. His most important contributions were to be developed in the genres of opera and cantata. He served in a number of different stations that included the Franciscan order, Arezzo, Volterra, S Croce, Venice, Vienna, Rome, Innsbruck and in the court of the Medicis. Cesti's early music was unfortunately jaded by the bastion-like retreat taken by artists following the experimentation and innovations of Monteverdi, et al. Melodies, harmonies and rhythms were, for the most part, stifled with occasional spirited reflections in meter. Cesti's larger works were not as tightly constructed and reserved chromaticism for the expression of feelings and textual painting. As he developed his operatic techniques, Cesti's music became less restricted and more diversified in melodic potentials and an implementation of diatonic harmonies and cadences. "Il pomo d'oro" was the most formidable and best example of Baroque opera. Cesti lends to this composition a larger retinue and a score in which soloists could demonstrate their needed skills. ~ Keith Johnson, All Music Guide