SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews
La Tarentella - Lucilla Galeazzi & Marco Beasley, singers/ Alfio Antico, singer & tamburi a cornice/ L’Arpeggiata, conducted by Christina Pluhar - Alpha
Fascinating music with an odd history - used for relief from spider bites
Published on June 25, 2005
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La Tarentella - Lucilla Galeazzi & Marco Beasley, singers/
Alfio Antico, singer & tamburi a cornice/ L’Arpeggiata, conducted
by Christina Pluhar - Multichannel SACD stereo - Alpha SA 503 ****:
"One’s first experience of a real tarentella always comes as a shock. For there is a world of difference between the sound of the Neapolitan picture-postcard tourist version - a hackneyed song in triple time with mandolins - and the very impressive dance, formerly found throughout Apulia, whose history goes back to ancient times."
So begins one of the articles in the insert accompanying this recording. The booklet and recording form an essay on the history and styles of the tarentella. People believed the tarantula’s bite (which was more likely a bite from a spider related to the black widow) induced melancholia and lethargy. Hence the lively rhythm to get the victim up and moving about.
The color of the spider had a bearing on which tarantella the victim danced to. One man, bitten by two spiders of different colors, supposedly died because he could not find a single tarantella that suited both spiders. This lively dance became an excuse for young women to claim they’d been bitten so they could engage in dancing that would be considered licentious if not for the excuse of being an antidote to a bug bite. The tarentella was thus a door to women’s sexual liberation.
Tarentellas are not always fast or lively. Many are about love, and loaded with double meanings like blues lyrics: "You used to like sausages, but you no longer eat them.". The performances seem committed and definitive. I could find nothing to criticize, though I’m hardly an expert on Italian folk music.
The sound is both crisp and transparent, with excellent vocal and instrumental focus. The ambience is romantic, with a shimmering reverberation. I listened to this disk three times, and it hasn’t worn out its welcome. If you have the least interest in authentic folk music, this disk is, as the Brits would say, self-recommending.
-- William Sommerwerck
"One’s first experience of a real tarentella always comes as a shock. For there is a world of difference between the sound of the Neapolitan picture-postcard tourist version - a hackneyed song in triple time with mandolins - and the very impressive dance, formerly found throughout Apulia, whose history goes back to ancient times."
So begins one of the articles in the insert accompanying this recording. The booklet and recording form an essay on the history and styles of the tarentella. People believed the tarantula’s bite (which was more likely a bite from a spider related to the black widow) induced melancholia and lethargy. Hence the lively rhythm to get the victim up and moving about.
The color of the spider had a bearing on which tarantella the victim danced to. One man, bitten by two spiders of different colors, supposedly died because he could not find a single tarantella that suited both spiders. This lively dance became an excuse for young women to claim they’d been bitten so they could engage in dancing that would be considered licentious if not for the excuse of being an antidote to a bug bite. The tarentella was thus a door to women’s sexual liberation.
Tarentellas are not always fast or lively. Many are about love, and loaded with double meanings like blues lyrics: "You used to like sausages, but you no longer eat them.". The performances seem committed and definitive. I could find nothing to criticize, though I’m hardly an expert on Italian folk music.
The sound is both crisp and transparent, with excellent vocal and instrumental focus. The ambience is romantic, with a shimmering reverberation. I listened to this disk three times, and it hasn’t worn out its welcome. If you have the least interest in authentic folk music, this disk is, as the Brits would say, self-recommending.
-- William Sommerwerck
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