Body and soul meditate on life, earthly lust and heavenly salvation. Allegorical figures embellish their dialogue: intellect, pleasure, time and a chorus, which portrays happy and damned souls. Rappresentazione di Anima e di Corpo, which 400 years on has lost none of its freshness, wisdom and explosiveness, is not easy to categorise. Late Middle Ages mystery play and futuristic opera combine in Cavalieri’s pioneering work, which he composed in Rome: clothed in allegory and intended for the church. Before going to Rome Cavalieri was a key figure in Ferdinando Medici’s plan to transform Florence into an independant metropolis for the arts. It was here that he developed »favola musicale«, drama with through-composed music and dance. Intrigues woven by his rivals Caccini and Peri forced him to leave Florence and find work in Rome.
    His extraordinary fantasy and new artistic methods make his »synthesis of the arts« stand out. »Recitative song« was used for the first time, it had the first written synopsis ever and there were stage directions but the music was not fully »orchestrated« - leaving the work open to contemporary interpretation.The Austrian composer Klaus Lang has carefully embellished and enriched this central work of an early baroque master with his own sound world.