La Venexiana have recorded most of Monteverdi’s secular works, including the madrigals and his first and last operas, their account of Orfeo winning a Gramophone Award in 2008. This is rather different: eight pieces by Monteverdi and his contemporaries given a jazz makeover, with strings and continuo complemented by saxophone, accordion, bass and drums. Three of the Monteverdi numbers and the Merula received similar treatment by Christina Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata in “Teatro d’amore” and “Via Crucis” respectively (Virgin, 6/09 and 7/10). A coincidence, no doubt.

The programme begins with two madrigals duplicated on “Teatro d’amore”. The Lamento della ninfa starts with the ground bass on the harpsichord; the voice enters and, as the piece progresses, the saxophone embarks on flights of fancy. The effect is strangely touching. Even more engaging is “Ohimè ch’io cado”, which swings along with mostly bass and drums; then, when the voice has finished, there are two more minutes (in a five-minute track) of riveting improvisation, again on the saxophone.

Sances’s Usurpator tiranno is built on the same bass – a four-note descending phrase – as the Lamento. This too benefits from a saxophone postlude but the inclusion of an accordion – surely an invention of the devil – is a distinct drawback. Fontei’s Pianto d’Erinna is, surprisingly, performed more or less straight. With Negri’s Transfigurazione della ninfa we are launched into the world of Puccini’s Crisantemi but the composer’s take on Monteverdi soon settles into something less interesting. Throughout, Roberta Mameli and saxophonist Emanuele Cisi are superb.