The four large Venetian orphanages for girls are best remembered in musical history for Vivaldi’s long association with the Ospedale della Pietà. Peter Kopp and his Dresden forces explore repertoire by respected composers associated with the three other Ospedali. Porpora, who held positions at all three, composed his De profundis for the Ospedale ai SS Giovanni e Paolo (known as the “Ospedaletto”) in 1744. The Dresden Instrumental Concert play with dramatic sensitivity and refinement, and the all-female choir sing with a sweet blend, sometimes to ethereal effect, and soprano soloists Maria Grazia Schiavo and Emanuela Galli are both superb in Porpora’s virtuoso arias. Hasse’s Laudate pueri is given here in its original version, presumably written for the Ospedale degl’Incurabili in the late 1730s. Kopp’s direction is animated yet graceful, and the disciplined interplay between strings, soloists and choir is attractive. Hasse’s accomplished contrapuntal writing in the SSAA choruses is balanced with several impressive arias (such as an eloquent “Gloria patri” sung by contralto José Maria Lo Monaco). Galuppi’s Dixit Dominus was also written for the Incurabili, albeit much later in 1774. It is a particularly dynamic piece, with especially striking sonorities for the all-female choir in “Juravit Dominus”, a flamboyantly theatrical duet for Schiavo and Monaco (“Dominus a destris”) that would not be unworthy of Mozart’s church music, and a radiant setting of “De torrente” sung tenderly by Galli. These uniformly excellent performances are a highly important contribution to reviving the faded fortunes of Vivaldi’s most talented younger contemporaries.