Described as the "New Orpheus", whose music had people literally rising to their feet in rapt attention, Niccolo Jommelli was patronised by the Pope, sought by many Royal Courts as their Director of Music, and was seen by many as the greatest opera composer of his day.

During the 1760s Jommelli was at the height of his career, earning a good wage at the Stuttgart Court, and managing all musical activities largely to his own liking. Next came the completion of a new theatre, which could accommodat more lavish and complex operas, such as Jommelli's Il Vologeso. Jommelli experimented in the world of sacred music too, as his later sacred works, with their great range of expression, often demonstrate. Show less