Domenico Scarlatti is associated with heaps of harpsichord sonatas and a long career serving the Portuguese princess Maria Barbara (later the Queen of Spain). But the Seville Baroque Orchestra and Carlos Mena set out to convey something about the breadth and quality of his other music. They present several Roman-period works, including an eloquent performance of the Arcadian cantata Doppo lungo servire (dated July 2, 1702), an animated three-movement sinfonia that was probably an overture to a lost opera, and a contrasting pair of two short arias from Narciso (an opera performed in 1714 for the exiled Queen Maria Casimira of Poland). Mena’s singing is excellent in the declamatory “Vorrebbe la speranza”, in the anxious “Si, si, tu ben lo sai” and in the narrative suffering of Doppo lungo servire.

Scarlatti’s last setting of Salve regina was composed in Madrid not long before his death in 1757. Director Nicolau de Figueiredo encourages some profoundly satisfying string textures that possess strength and depth in phrases where the devotional text and Scarlatti’s string-writing invite compassion, and Mena’s singing has both authority and sensitivity. The Seville Baroque Orchestra’s survey widens to include two of Charles Avison’s concerti grossi arranged creatively from bits of Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas: Figueiredo sculpts emotive phrases with finesse (the D minor Largo that commences No 5), and the Seville band plays fast music with theatrical verve (the thrilling Allegro of No 10). Figueiredo also provides a fascinating appendix containing expert performances of Scarlatti’s original sonata movements. It’s a pity that the booklet-note prints the sung texts in the wrong order, but the performances are routinely fantastic.