The King’s Choir and Consort directed by Robert King made a complete series of the Sacred Music of Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643). It contains the 4-part Messa a capella of 1650 [25:12], Cantate Domino [5:24] the Letaniæ della Beata Virgine [11:00] and a number of shorter works, of which the opening Exultent cœli [3:49] and Laudate Dominum [3:01] are the best known.

This is music that I could listen to all day long. With Carolyn Sampson and Rebecca Outram (sopranos), Rogers Covey-Crump (high tenor), Charles Daniels and James Gilchrist (tenors) and Peter Harvey (bass) you could hardly wish for a more distinguished team of soloists, though I would recommend supplementing this recording with the incomparable Emma Kirkby, the Parley of Instruments/Roy Goodman and Peter Holman on another Hyperion recording (budget price CDH55345—July 2011/1. There’s no duplication of repertoire.