Three cheers for Daniel Hope for making a high-profile Vivaldi release without recourse to The Four Seasons. Not that there is anything wrong with those marvellous pieces of course – indeed, Hope says he “wouldn’t want to live without them” – but the disc he has produced is surely a deeper way of signalling his love and understanding of the Red Priest. Vivaldi lovers will be familiar with some of the works here, but RV234 is not so well known, while real rarities are RV273, a delicious and long-limbed late work, and a spaciously atmospheric aria with obbligato violin from the opera Andromeda liberata.

Hope and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe play them with the clarity and ensemble precision of a top-class Baroque orchestra, and with their spritely bowing and general avoidance of vibrato, perhaps only the occasional sweetening of tone in Hope’s top register really gives away that modern instruments are at work. There seems little doubt as to the kind of performances Hope has been influenced by, and the “Baroque” feel is enhanced by a generous and active continuo section which even runs to a harp and a lirone. What results is Vivaldi that is enjoyable and without quirks, and perhaps all one would wish for is that final ounce of drive and energy the less reined-in playing of a Baroque orchestra can bring to faster movements. On the other hand, Hope’s obvious relish for Vivaldi’s stiller moments brings memorable results in the rich poetry of RV273 (real summer-night warmth here) and the captivatingly wistful “Sovvento il sole”, in which, though vocally less smooth-running than she has been in the past, guest soloist Anne Sofie von Otter catches the mood superbly. This is a disc made with love and intelligence – a powerful combination.