Италия. Раннее Барокко XVI-XVII ВВ.

Released by the state-run Soviet label Melodiya in the mid-1960s, this recording captures a selection of early Italian Baroque music. It emerged during a period when the label was expanding its catalog to include Western European classical and pre-classical repertoire, aiming to provide Soviet listeners with exposure to musicological developments occurring outside the Eastern Bloc.

The album features the vocal ensemble Madrigal, a prominent Soviet chamber group founded in 1956 by Andrei Volkonsky. Volkonsky, a dedicated proponent of historically informed performance, sought to revive forgotten music by integrating rigorous stylistic research with high-quality performance. The record was received as a significant academic achievement, noted for its stark departure from the traditional Romanticized interpretations of the era that dominated Soviet concert halls at the time.