This Venetian Baroque programme is a departure for Contrapunctus – discographically at least. It views the Italian Baroque through the lens of the Academy of Ancient Music: not the modern ensemble but the 18th-century institution whose name it adopted, founded in London in 1726 and dedicated to the appreciation of polyphony of the previous centuries (as Owen Rees’s introductory notes inform us). Among the standouts of the recital are Legrenzi’s Intret in conspectus tuo, which survives in a copy made by Handel, and Steffani’s Qui diligit Mariam, written by the then aged composer at the Academy’s invitation. Even the overtly Catholic texts could not quell the Academy’s enthusiasm, though some adjustments were made for local consumption. That such fine continental music would never have reached us but for the zeal of this society of British antiquarians is a timely lesson from history.

However fascinating the premise, the recital stands perfectly well without it. It makes for intriguing comparison with a similarly conceived programme I reviewed a few months back (by the London Oratory Schola Cantorum – Hyperion, 5/24) with Monteverdi at its centre but looking both forwards and back. Here the focus is on his successors at St Mark’s and the result is far more convincing. For one thing, soloists suit this repertoire far better, especially with theorbo and organ for the continuo; for another, the two pieces mentioned above, each weighing in at over 10 minutes, anchor the shorter pieces around them more effectively. The Steffani is particularly impressive, from its earworm of an opening to the final peroration, with both languor and extroversion in between. The ensemble here is frequently superb. Rees’s singers ornament their lines subtly. One would gladly hear more in the same vein; that said, that they do so at all is very welcome (dare one say it, they sound rather Italianate in places). Every track offers some flash of virtù (fans of Lotti’s Crucifixus take note: not only is it beautifully done but you get a five-voice setting as a bonus). The small-scale Monteverdi motets are especially satisfying. Frequently heard on anthologies like this one, they can give the impression of a great composer holding something back. But not here.