From the apparition of the stile rappresentativo (Monteverdi's famous Lettera Amorosa) and the monophonic madrigal (Frescobaldi, Negri), to the heyday of bel canto (Carissimi, Stradella, Melani), to it's parody (with the very burlesque and unpublished Lettera del Signor Carlo Antonio Benati alla Signora Vittoria Tesi by Marcello), the letter in music is attempted in the golden age of Italian cantata, by numerous composers. La Gioannina reveals a hidden and exemplary face of the Italian cantata, following it's echoes to a contemporary creation by Vincent Bouchot on unpublished texts of a great poet of our time, Michel Butor. The Gioannina ensemble joins the harp and the lute with their delicate strings for a curious and free exploration of these musical pieces. The ensemble was founded in 2012 by Remi Cassiagne and Nanja Breedijk. In collaboration with Francoise Masset, it made two recordings of Orazio Michi dell'Arpa.