Silvio Berlusconi’s staying power

A third batch of recordings made by the Bari call-girl Patrizia D'Addario of her encounters with Silvio Berlusconi have been released - and they are even more intimate in detail than those posted by La Repubblica at the start of the week.

While the prime minister has sought to laugh off the first recordings - telling a meeting of Italian businessmen "I am no saint" - observers believe the latest one will upset the Vatican, possibly ruling out an audience with the Pope before the Italian Parliament resumes in October.

In the latest clip, understood to be from the night D'Addario spent with the PM at his residence in Rome on November 4 last year, she is heard apparently praising the 72-year-old for his prowess in the bedroom. He responds with advice on her sex life.

D'Addario: "A young man would have come in a second. I mean he would have come... Young men usually have a lot of pressure.

Berlusconi: "But if you will you allow me... (muffled) I believe it is a family thing."

D'Addario: "What?"

Berlusconi: "Having an orgasm."

D'Addario: "You know how long it has been since I had sex like I had with you tonight. It's several months, since I broke with my boyfriend. Is this normal?"

Berlusconi: "May I? You should have sex with yourself. You should touch yourself often."

The prime minister has not denied that D'Addario went to his official residence but claims he "cannot remember her". He has also claimed that he would never pay for sex "because it does not involve the thrill of conquest".

This claim appeared to be supported by a remark made by the businessman Gianpaolo Tarantini in one of the recordings released earlier this week. Tarantini, who invited D'Addario and other girls to parties at Berlusconi's homes in Rome and Sardinia, was heard explaining to D'Addario that the PM would not be "taking you like an escort, he will be taking you as a friend of mine that I brought along". ·