Customer Reviews

Dance of Ancient Spider

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After years of hearing nothing but stereotypical "Italian" popular music, it was a true revelation to hear the real thing. This music changed my perception of the land of my ancestors--Calabria, Italy. Allesandra Belloni is an enchanting, mystical, energizing, passionate and earthy performer. She has to be thanked for preserving a music form of intense complexity and making it accessible to the general public. The one thing that disappoints me is that Ms. Belloni has only this single CD available. I know I want to hear more.

Alessandra Belloni is a singer, dancer and actress with impecabble credentials: she studied Commedia dell'Arte with Dario Fo, worked with Anna Magnani and Federico Fellini and, as one of the greates female percussionists in the world, she has performed with Glen Velez, Olatunji, Mickey Hart and Gilberto Gil. Her main interest is in ancient peasant music from Southern Italy, with its syncretic mix of Catholic and pagan influences. Here she demonstrates the Calabrian tarantella, a quick dance the origins of which stretch back to the Dionysian rites of ancient Greece. In the Middle Ages, the tarantella was allegedly used to help tarantulla-bitten peasant women in Southern Italy sweat the poison off their bodies. In reality, however, the quick tempo of the tarantella which unleashes the power and ecstasy that resides in the woman's body was used to excite erotic passions in men. In this CD I can see why.

Belloni is a true visionary whose exquisite beauty and power breathe out of every piece on this CD. From medieval prayer chants to peasant celebrations and love ballads, the music evokes the ecstasy that occurs when the body becomes a vessel for ancient forces that rise out of the land and its cycles; it shines with the tremendous power of the feminine reaching all the way back into ancient shamanic roots of Europe and ancient Greece. It is a rare occasion indeed that these rhythms became available. Highly recommended.

According to the fascinating liner notes by Alessandra Belloni, lower-class women of Italy have always suffered from injustice--the [prejudice] and classism of higher-ups who exploited their bodies and restricted their lives. Tensions would build within their minds--... frustration and repressed anger--and often manifest themselves in psychosomatic illness. This illness was called the "tarantate"--bite of the tarantula. Like the maenads of ancient Greece, the women of Italy found the cure for this affliction in wild ecstatic dance. Thus, the tarantella.

You might want to start with track 10, "Fimmene Fimmene" (Women, Women), a work chant sung by the women as they labored in the fields, which heartbreakingly evokes the thankless work of these women. Even if you don't understand Italian--I only know what I can wring out of my rusty Spanish--"Fimmene Fimmene" will take you right there to the oppressive heat and the bodily aches.

The other songs on the album are of several types: tarantella dances, which are passionate and wild; slower and highly sensual love songs; and hymns to the Black Madonna. The songs to the Virgin are among my favorites; they are just as energetic as the secular dance songs and are not the stuffy church music you might expect. On this album, the sensual and the sacred are never far apart. Caution--don't listen to this album anywhere you'd be embarrassed to be caught dancing.

I purchased this CD because it was billed as "Italian Wedding Music" on a popular Italian American website. While the selections were very interesting from a historical viewpoint, this was definitely NOT the CD to play for an Italian American wedding reception! Fortunately, I was able to purchase another Italian Wedding CD from amazon.com that definitely filled the bill. Just wanted to advise potential brides that, while this CD may be great for a background dinner reception or other background music need, it is definitely NOT for the DJ at your Italian wedding.

I bought what must have been a dozen CDs that were supposed to be appropriate for an Italian wedding (my Granddaughter was getting married). I purchased this one upon recommendation of the virtual italia website. What a mistake. There was really no way we could play this music at a traditional Italian wedding reception. While it may have some interest for historians interested in the development of the tarantella, it is definitely NOT for musical entertainment at any social Italian American functions. Future buyers should know this. Thanks for allowing me to comment.

While the music on this CD is interesting from a historical viewpoint, it is definitely NOT appropriate for an Italian American wedding reception. I purchased the CD on the recommendation I received from a popular Italian American website (I won't mention names) that listed it in the category of "Italian Wedding Music." I couldn't have been more disappointed. Again, the music is interesting, but so very ethnic that Italian Americans would NEVER understand or relate to it. Fortunately, I was able to find The Italian Wedding cd on amazon.com that filled the bill, and my reception was saved.

Again, I'm not knocking this music. It is great for people interested in the really grass roots, traditional Italian sound. In fact, it is quite haunting and great for an event other than a lively Italian wedding. But am I ever glad I had this other CD in hand to save my wedding reception.