| Review by Student May 6, 2006 (6 of 6 found this review helpful)
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Music to ease the pain and encourage healing after being bitten by a poisonous spider..... at least that was the purpose in 17th century Italy. The attached booklet makes very interesting reading, and features a rather hideous close-up of the title character. Those with arachnophobia beware!
Like most of Alpha's other releases, the quality of this recording is first class. This Parisian label's gems are fast becoming favourites among the followers of Early music in the hi-fi community. I have owned the CD version for a while but recently purchased the SACD. Whilst the CD gave me much listening pleasure, this SACD has induced a new lease of life into the album for me. With my 2-channel set-up, tracks are given an extra dimension. More depth, transparency and a greater insight and openness that just isn't there with the CD. The baroque strings come alive on the SACD. This is exemplified in tracks 3, 13 and 17. The high end is more detailed and sharper but subtle and forgiving at the same time. Vocal tracks are more vibrant and have more of a 'live' effect, which is again, less apparent on the normal CD.
I believe this to be the only Alpha SACD release so far, (I may be wrong), which leaves me thinking, 'why aren't there more'? Belli's Il Nouvo Stile is also stunning, and the compilation Pastime with Good Company is a must have.
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