Born in Venice around 1652, Marc’Antonio Ziani was an eminent operatic composer who, at the zenith of his career, moved to serve the Habsburgs in Vienna, where he was to die in 1715. Damira placata is the second of his operas, and its plot centres on Damira, a queen in ancient Egypt, and her struggles to win back the love of King Creonte. Conceived for the puppet theatre, the singers and instrumentalists were hidden from sight to heighten the illusion. It is a quintessential Venetian opera—declamation melts into eloquent musical gestures, recitatives are full of pathos, arias have constant rhythm, and the central characters are strongly defined.