Of German descent, Giovanni Kapsberger was born in Italy and established himself as a central musical figure in Rome in the early 1600s, transforming the profile of the theorbo as a solo instrument and composing works for both the Sistine Chapel and Urban VIII’s papal chambers. For all the evidence of an accomplished rhetorical imagination in the second book of arias from 1623 (through a coherent survey of penitence and redemptive compassion in the madrigali spirituali vein), Il Furioso’s “first recording” reveals a figure torn between syllabic simplicity and the vanities of early Baroque ornament, through deeply felt melismatic airs and lighter idioms.

Victor Coelho puts a fairly strong case for this music, though I cannot pretend that Kapsberger’s vocal writing achieves much beyond the generic; even the best masters of monody require something very special in current performance to reach out to listeners beyond the expert or curious enthusiast. Only the tenor, Gian Paolo Fagotto, seems to carry the text beyond the confines of what can often appear little more than meandering musings. Even so, there are some attractive canzonettas and the final duet Perché pietà (which Coelho describes in hyperbole as an “extravagant, bleeding vocal toccata”) is economically pleasing. The theorbo playing is often imaginative and occasionally prosaic. In sum, a cautious foray for all but the true aficionado.