Album: Caccini, D'India, Monteverdi etc, La Voce di Orfeo (Naïve)

Sung by Furio Zanasi and played by the viol, harp and lute trio La Chimera, this recital is both a portrait of the poet, composer and singer Francesco Rasi (1574-1621) and a study of the different "amatory conditions" of Baroque song.

Zanasi's plump, moist baritone seems at times overwhelmed by extreme emotion and complicated decoration, and Eduardo Eguez's brisé continuo arrangements can be too fussy. But when the texture's clear, the effect is magical, especially during narrator Giulio Casati's "Amor l'ali m'impenna".