As IF explained in his review of the LP, the music on this recording was at one time a closely-guarded secret, the private property of a single sixteenth-century Italian nobleman, the three lady singers who served as his personal musicians, and the very few select people who were granted the privilege of hearing them perform. Although Luzzaschi's music was eventually published in 1601 (perhaps as many as 30 years after the music was composed), of the ladies themselves and their apparently extraordinary performing ability we have only the ambiguous reports of the time, and this makes hazardous the question of how these pieces should actually sound.
Who knows, then, whether or not the heavy, laboured, deeply affected singing that you'll hear in these interpretations is in any way like that of the original Ferrarese ladies? Who can tell whether the slow, fluctuating tempos, exaggerated ornaments and lack of concern for the overall shapes of the osngs are in any way authentic? Personally I find the lack of grace, elegance, seductiveness and natural flow a serious barrier to enjoyment; nor do I find the singing genuinely expressive of the poetry. As exercises in highly mannered vocal technique, there's certainly something to admire in these performances, but I have serious reservations about their authority as a re-creation of the actual sound of the original Ferrarese ensemble. However enticing the sound-quality of this CD version may be, you may join me in having doubts about the nature of the music-making itself.'