I Fagiolini’s previous Monteverdi offerings have been warmly welcomed, preserving something of the ensemble’s memorable live performances. Given their spirited enactment of the more cerebral “middle-period” madrigals, one naturally expects them to make the most of the overt drama of Books 7 and 8, from which most of this instalment is drawn. Lest I appear unduly critical, it should be pointed out that I Fagiolini have chosen some of Monteverdi’s most famous and often-recorded pieces, in which the memory lingers over unforgettable interpretations; in such company, they struggle sometimes to impose their own distinctive stamp on proceedings. Compare their Zefiro torna from Book 6 with Concerto Italiano’s, for example, or the opening of Hor ch’el ciel e la terra with Concerto Vocale’s, and you’ll hear what I mean. The opening Questi vaghi concenti is a tough piece to get right: even the most distinguished ensembles seem unconsciously cowed by its historic momentousness. Here too, it lacks that steely sense of urgent, collective utterance that is surely its point.

Matters improve markedly with Gira il nemico insidioso, which is taken at a less manic pace than usual. The touches of interpretative tomfoolery there are well taken, for it’s a rather silly piece. But most successful, to my mind, is the Ballo delle ingrate, one of the most coherent accounts of it I can remember, with a sharply delineated Pluto. The variety of continuo instruments is highly effective, and the work’s dramatic line holds until the final, valedictory exhortation.