Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

This most enjoyable collection can be appreciated both as a wide-ranging survey of Italian church music from Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) to Padre Antonio Soler (1729-1783) and also a celebratory "best of" Rinaldo Alessandro's Concerto Italiano. The quality is superb throughout and the quantity is impressive too: five CDs (two of them doubles) giving us seven and a half hours of wonderful music for an incredibly generous price. (At the time of writing in January 2014 the box is retailing at under £30 so do not delay!) The small-print tells us that all the discs have been issued before and indeed some have been reviewed on this website. All the packaging and liner notes are original, so the Vivaldi double, 'Vespri per l'Assunzione di Maria Vergine', is labelled as Volume 18 of the Vivaldi Edition. But even if you have two or three of these CDs the price means that you can afford some duplication. The quality of Concerto Italiano remains superlative throughout and as well as the aforementioned Monteverdi and Vivaldi we hear from Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) and Alessandro Melani (1639-1703), both of whom have a full disc each and then from 2011 we get 'Per la Vergine Maria' with pieces by Monteverdi, Melani, Soler and Scarlatti as well as Pietro Paolo Bencini (c 1675-1755), Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674), and a brief "Ave Maria" from that well-known Italian Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971). If you have any interest at all in Italian Renaissance polyphony this is the best value and most comprehensive survey available.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.