Concerto Italiano is a Baroque music group consisting of both a vocal and an orchestral ensemble. After gaining recognition in Europe, it has toured throughout the world and taken on major recording projects. Concerto Italiano was founded in 1984 by harpsichordist Rinaldo Alessandrini, who has served as the group's music director since its founding. It drew broad international notice for a recording of Monteverdi's Fourth Book of Madrigals, which received a 1994 Gramophone Award, the first of five. On rare occasions, the group has ventured beyond Baroque repertory, most notably in an acclaimed 2001 recording of Rossini arias with soprano María Bayo. In 2017, the ensemble put on a world tour performing Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the composer's birth. In 2022, the group issued a recording of music by Vivaldi and Bach.