DEATH OF GESUALDO – US PREMIERE
The Gesualdo Six and Concert Theatre Works
Following the huge international success of Secret Byrd, creator/director Bill Barclay teams up for a second collaboration with The Gesualdo Six to celebrate their namesake composer, Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613).
Infamous for murdering his wife and her lover, Gesualdo’s tortured chromaticism anticipated musical romanticism by 200 years. His madrigals and Tenebrae – the mass he wrote for his own death – form the backbone of a new theatrical concert that superimposes his life over his music.
Haunting, vexing, and wildly fascinating, this anti-Valentine’s Day program may best befit a Friday the 13th.
Commissioned by The Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields for its 300th birthday, The National Centre for Early Music in York, and Music Before 1800.
“Effortless Perfection.”
The Observer, of Secret Byrd
