Monteverdi

Vespers 1610 Linn (2CDs)

It’s the 450th anniversary this year of the birth of Claudio Monteverdi, the outstanding Western composer of the first half of the 17th century.

If you want some Monteverdi in your life, you can’t do better than this new recording of his Vespers from the Edinburgh-based choir the Dunedin Consort, under their music director John Butt, a man of many talents: a first-class musicologist, a communicator with a gift for explaining complex points, and an excellent conductor. Any recording by Butt is an event. And this one, recorded with a small, hand-picked choir of 10 voices, is special even by his elevated standards.

There may be more glamorous recordings of the Vespers available, but none as searching as this one, which is out now.