Goldoni's battle-of-the-sexes libretto describes a world where the women rule and the men are their lovers/servants, busying themselves with knitting and housework. While decidedly politically incorrect - all agree in the end that «women in command make for a topsy-turvy world that is inevitably doomed to failure» - the story is still good for some genuine laughs. Making the most of the parody is Furio Zanasi, as Graziosino, who turns on a dime from comically inflated bravado to quavering fear and back. Fulvio Bettini, as Giacinto, is also very funny in his pathos when he describes his helplessness in the face of female beauty,as well as the troubles brought on by his own handsomeness. The casting of a woman as Rinaldino, the third of the enslaved lovers, inevitably detracts somewhat from the dramatic tension in a piece whose subject is specifically male-female relationships, although soprano Lia Serafini does sing with an appealing purity and agility. Among the three squabbling female rulers, sparks don't fly quite as much as one might hope (and there isn't as much delineation of character as on Piva's recording) but Rosa Dominguez as Aurora, supposedly the gentlest of the three, lets her claws show occasionally, to pronounced effect. Fasolis, who also plays harpsichord for the recitatives, elicits ace orchestral playing from I Barocchisti. Sonics are excellent.