João de Sousa Carvalho was one of the foremost Portuguese composers of his generation. L’Angelica was his first opportunity to write a ‘courtly serenata or drama’, the first of ten such works, after being appointed music master to the Portuguese royal family at the court of Queen Maria I (1734–1816). Setting a libretto by the great Italian poet Metastasio, Carvalho brings out every ounce of dramatic intensity in his richly expressive and captivating score, the story of how the beautiful and intelligent Angelica uses and misuses her seductive charms to fool the noble Orlando into thinking she loves him, only to abandon him and run away with Medoro instead.