This opera-pretending-to-be-oratorio (opera was banned in Rome during the period in which the work was composed) offers an excellent way to discover and appreciate Alessandro Scarlatti’s vocal/dramatic facility and his engaging manner of setting melody to appropriately varied, effectively complementary accompaniment. We enter the famous Abraham/Sarah/Hagar/Ishmael story (from Genesis, chapter 21) at the point where Abraham’s wife Sarah insists that he must banish the slave Hagar and her son Ishmael to protect their own son Isaac’s inheritance.