Most of the pieces in this attractive anthology are taken from Monteverdi’s two volumes of Scherzi musicali: the first, for three voices, was published in 1607 while the composer was employed at the Gonzaga court in Mantua; the second, mostly for solo voice, appeared in 1632, by which time he had long been established in Venice. Not all are as light-hearted as the title would suggest; many are strophic, each stanza set to the same music. There are two canzonettas from 1584, when Monteverdi was 17, and three pieces from other collections.

The cuckoo in the nest, so to speak, is the solo from the Seventh Book of Madrigals (1619), a love-letter in recitative, sung here with a passion that makes one regret, yet again, the loss of so many of the operas from Monteverdi’s maturity. His first opera is evoked in ‘Damigella tutta bella’, cousin to Orfeo’s ‘Vi ricorda o boschi ombrosi’.

The instruments play throughout, in various permutations, supplying the third voice-part where necessary. The soprano sometimes takes the middle line: this works well with the violin in the jolly ‘Lidia spina’ but it’s hard to make out the top line, played by the harp, in ‘Come farò cuor mio’.

The latter is sung with a pure legato by Maria Cristina Kiehr, and she brings a nice wryness to the mild plaint of ‘Ohimè ch’io cado’. Stephan MacLeod blends in well; when he sings alone the results are variable. He has the measure of ‘Più lieto il guardo’, which interestingly alternates measured stanzas with a recitative refrain, but in ‘Maledetto sia l’aspetto’ he lacks the necessary lightness of touch. Jean-Marc Aymes directs with spirit and plays a fine set of variations by Frescobaldi on the claviorganum. A pleasant entertainment for an idle hour.