Not only lovely Christmas sounds are offered here by Amaryllis Dietliens and her ensemble. After all, the creators of the Italian Baroque works saw the beginning of Jesus’ life not just in the light of the star of Bethlehem, but rather also with an eye on its conclusion, from the perspective of Christ’s passion and death. Thus, in many a lullaby is concealed a double bottom...

Even almost spectral-like sounds are to be heard – as in Merula’s “Hor ch’é tempo di dormire,” in which the bass oscillates back and forth for several minutes between just two notes under the emphatic declamation of the voice part.

The timbres of this SuperAudio CD range from the intimate accompaniment of the voice by just a Baroque guitar up to nearly orchestral sounds with two recorders and a splendid continuo group. Soprano Amaryllis Dieltiens has been highly praised especially by connoisseurs of Baroque singing. “Fare la nina na” is already her fourth release on AEOLUS. Her colleagues are all prominent members of the very active Belgian early music scene.