It seems that it is becoming the norm to put out discs of Vivaldi chamber cantatas mixed with other works for contrast – and a good idea it is too. Here are four cantatas full of exquisitely shaded Arcadian love and pain interspersed with a concerto each for bassoon and recorder, and laid out thus every piece is allowed to reveal its individual merits rather than merge with the others in the mind as they can on single-genre releases. The cantatas are sung by Tone Wik, a Norwegian soprano with a pretty and characterful voice strongly reminiscent at times of the young Emma Kirkby, though sometimes too with an occasionally discomforting fragility that the English singer never had. Still, it makes a pleasant change from the more operatic voices we are increasingly hearing in Vivaldi, compared to which, it must be said, Wik makes a far more convincing and love-vulnerable nymph.

The cantatas differ slightly in scoring – Che giova il sospirar, povero core has string accompaniment, La farfalletta s’aggira al lume and Se ben vivono senz’alma continuo only, while All’ombra di sospetto features flute and continuo – but all are typical of Vivaldi in their imaginative ritornellos, affecting vocal lines (none of his operatic vocal athletics here) and a sensitive way with recitative. The cello’s flitting butterfly effect in La farfaletta is a particularly happy inspiration. The instrumental playing from Barokkanerne (Norwegian again, though with the Palladians’ Rodolfo Richter guest-leading) is of a fine standard, as is that of the nimble concerto soloists; it is a real pleasure to hear Vivaldi’s plangent E minor Bassoon Concerto performed with solo strings offering such ardently immediate support.

This is one of those releases that is easy to pass by but actually well worth spending a little time with.