The Modena Consort basically comprises four players of Renaissance flute. Not, on the face of it, a very promising ensemble for a full CD, but they have drafted in the services of the lutenist René Genis and particularly the gloriously persuasive soprano Ulrike Hofbauer; and on this occasion they also have a guest percussionist, Hiram Santos.

The music here is mainly from the earliest printed music books, produced in the first decade of the 16th century by Ottaviano Petrucci in Venice. Three of Petrucci’s first collections were of secular songs presented without any text and therefore presumably aimed at an instrumental ensemble – of which a group of four flutes is as good as any, though the purity of the Renaissance flute makes it hard for the players to introduce much variety of sound. To compensate, though, they have skill, precision and a delicious warmth of colour: this is controlled and professional playing.

Hofbauer sings frottole mostly with lute accompaniments from the versions of Franciscus Bossinensis (1509), to which occasional lines from the original polyphony are played on flutes. This works well, though there is always something about Renaissance flutes (like recorders) that makes the ear confused as to which octave is being heard. Still, for me the real importance of the disc is in the unimaginably gentle way Ulrike Hofbauer approaches the lovely and underrated repertory of the Italian frottola: with generally slow tempi, she brings out more of the pathos and intimacy of the music than is often heard. This is hard to do and even harder to control: she manages, though at the price of occasional lost energy.

The elegant packaging includes full texts and translations into three languages; helpful would have been more information on the individual pieces and why they were chosen.