BAGNI DI DOLABELLA
RAI 1993
Radio inside a Violin: A gift to Jon Rose by the marketing department of WDR Cologne
  • Produced between 20 and 23th September 1993 at The RAI studios, Rome for Pinotto Fava and The AUDIO BOX (extract).
  • The recording engineer was Vinetta Paraldi.
  • The assistant director was Antonella Bottini.
  • The voice of Dolabella was played by Sabine Sacchi.
  • The violin was played by Jon Rose.
  • The Orchestra of Ancient Guts was conducted by Johannes Rosenberg.
  • The Text was written by Jon Rose and based on the City of Rome archives.

A tourist's guide to the treatments and political intrigues of an Ancient Roman Bath... the Bath of Dolabella. Owned by a normal run of the mill corrupt politician called Narone, these baths are a state of the art health paradise for your average under worked, over stressed city bureaucrat with a big arse. Dolabella runs through her usual sales spiel about the baths for our benefit although the style of her delivery leads us to believe she's rather fed up with her job and the clientele she has to deal with on a day to day basis. For example she demonstrates her massage technique on one of her regular clients. She gives us the facts and figures about how the baths function and the special mineral qualities of the water. The therapeutic differences between cold and hot baths are mentioned in some detail. Dolabella also lists the herbal remedies and some more exotic treatments such as bathing in pig's urine...

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