Monteverdi’s theatrical ‘late’ madrigals rely on an alliance between accomplished vocal executancy, dramatic flair and textural coloration: the great ‘Baroque’ shift from antiquated contrapuntal abstraction towards the power of rhetoric and operatic representation. This opulently produced disc especially celebrates the grand scale and luminous collage of voices and instruments which make these seven ‘scenas’ leap from the page. Françoise Lasserre’s Akadêmia resonate generously in Eglise Notre Dame du Liban (Paris) in performances ripe with conviction.

What is achieved in corporate elegance, however, is not comparable, certainly, to the best indigenous groups like Concerto Italiano, where rhythmic timing of the concitato idiom (delivering the action with excitement) and the balance of dramatic and lyrical moment is far more sophisticated. Part of the problem in all the large ensemble pieces here is that Akadêmia’s deliberate declamation is not matched by a discerning ear for intonation or true tonal refinement. Even so, the fine recorded sound brilliantly captures the juxtaposed fanfares and homophonic asides of Altri canti di Marte, a remarkable madrigal where the longings of love ironically render the generic warmongering gestures as mere posturing.

Five of the seven works are taken from Monteverdi’s Eighth Book of Madrigals from 1638 (the other two from the previous publication of 1619), of which the set-piece Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda arguably makes the greatest demands – a 20-minute masterpiece portraying the poignant tale of the Christian Knight’s killing of a Saracen warrior only to realise that he’s killed his lover in disguise – has all the spittle and special effects of Alessandrini’s crossed swords but none of his expressive subtlety, variety and restraint. Throughout, I kept yearning for Concerto Italiano’s kaleidoscopic and pathos-laden solutions. A guarded recommendation for Akadêmia, for all its freshness and immediacy.