I must admit to a sinking of the heart when I saw the title and examined the contents of this disc. An endless parade of variations on the Folia, a ground bass that had its origins in a Portuguese dance, was not an enticing prospect. In fact, despite the lack of variety in tonality, the pieces are cunningly chosen so as to avoid monotony, the instrumentation is pleasingly varied, and the result is a strikingly enjoyable recording.

The programme runs in roughly chronological order, from around 1500 to the early 18th century. One of the earliest works by a named composer is the Pavana con su glosa, an effective arrangement of a keyboard piece by Cabezón with Jordi Savall leading a quartet of viols. This is followed by the Fantasia by Alonso Mudarra, magically played on the triple harp by Arianna Savall. In fact, several items are for a solo instrument: Rolf Lislevand, heard earlier on the theorbo, ends the Folías gallegas by Murcia with a gentle fading away of the guitar, and Michael Behringer skilfully dispatches the divisions of Bernardo Storace’s Follia on the harpsichord.

The best known pieces are the meatiest. In Corelli’s violin sonata, Manfredo Kraemer is reticent, almost tentative, before working up to dazzling fireworks, abetted by the cello of Balazs Mate and the strumming of Xavier Díaz-Latorre’s guitar. The trio sonata by Vivaldi, the last of his Op 1 set, makes an exhilarating conclusion, Kraemer joined by Mauro Lopes and a four-strong continuo group. The surprise is an equally fine violin sonata by Henrico Albicastro, alias Heinrich Weissenburg, with its virtuoso double-stopping and lively bass-line.