On the evidence of this disc there is no reason to dispute the Grove Dictionary claim that Sigismondo d’India was second only to Monteverdi in early 17th-century Italy as a composer of monodies. In this selection (he wrote more than 100), we get a rounded demonstration of his strengths, which include a natural yet attractively musical way with declamation, coupled with a range which extends from light, strophic dance-songs to strong illuminations of cultured texts by Petrarch and others to powerful and substantial laments.

This is fine and sophisticated music whose effectiveness can lie as much in touching use of melody (La mia Filli crudel and Torna il sereno Zefiro) as in chromatic adventures (Piange Madonna) or playful virtuosity (Odi quel rosignolo). Infelice Didone has the desolate Dido alternately bemoaning and raging at her fate at the hands of the departing Aeneas in musical and literary terms (by d’India himself) which are strongly reminiscent of Monteverdi’s Lamento d’Arianna, and by no means humbled by the comparison.

As I have mentioned before, Maria Cristina Kiehr’s voice is probably an acquired taste, yet it demands attention. A pupil of René Jacobs, she shares some of his vocal mannerisms, in particular a disarmingly hard centre to her sound and a boldly strategic approach to the use and non-use of vibrato. To me she sounds fascinatingly like my idea of a soprano castrato. Yet sober sacred music has always seemed her metier; in these subtly detailed secular texts she lacks the vocal and temperamental agility to put the words across to maximum effect. The atmosphere of these performances, though one of considerable beauty, comes from the sound-world she creates more than from penetrating interpretation.

Concerto Soave, her customary accompanists, offer colourfully imaginative (if rather close) support; the bleak harp chord which evokes the ‘cold sweat of death’ in Infelice Didone is an inspired and chilling touch. The short instrumental items are well-placed, but I wish there had been an explanation for the extraordinary combination of harpsichord and organ used for the Mayone, apparently produced by just one four-armed player.