In July 1630 the plague had reached Venice from Mantua in the southwest. It claimed 700,000 victims in the entire Republic, and 46,500 alone in Venice, who died before the next summer. The plague also claimed the lives of outstanding musicians such as the violinist Giovanni Fontana of Brescia, "a virtuoso whom the voracious plague transported from the earth to the heavens," and the celebrated Alessandro Grandi, who at the chapel of San Marco was second only to Monteverdi. The city began to build its "vow" in order to banish this divine punishment. In November 1631, Monteverdi’s music was played and all the surviving citizens gathered at St. Mark’s Cathedral. "Zephir returns and with it, great times" is sung by the two tenors in Monteverdi’s famous Ciaccona, which was printed in Venice in 1632. The musical renaissance of the city begins.The construction of public, commercial music theaters (the term "opera house" did not yet exist) turned out to be a winning idea that quickly made its way not only through the entire city, but also throughout Europe as a prime export of Venice. The Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca present on this diligently recorded album, works composed in Venice during this extraordinary period.