Gesualdo - Madrigals Books 3 & 4 | Harmonia Mundi HAF890530910

Gesualdo - Madrigals Books 3 & 4

£18.95

In stock - available for despatch within 1 working day

Label: Harmonia Mundi

Cat No: HAF890530910

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 2

Genre: Vocal/Choral

Release Date: 5th February 2021

Contents

About

Following the acclaim which met their 2-CD set devoted to the first two books of Gesualdo's madrigals (2020 Gramophone Award), Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants now focus on the composer's Ferrara period. Books III and IV mark a turning point in Gesualdo's output. The murderous prince's inner demons seem to be reflected in the heightened expressiveness of these madrigals, whose reliance on chromaticism and dissonance was so far ahead of its time that its like would not be heard again until centuries later.

Reviews

The set begins with the exquisite ‘Voi volete ch’io mora’ (‘You wish me to die’), and we experience all four seasons of expression in as many lines of poetry. ... A whole world is here in the first 69 seconds and no CD has made me yearn to hear the live performance as much as this. Yet for all Gesualdo’s exquisite word-painting, these albums are consistently more subtle than sensational.  Edward Breen
Gramophone April 2021
Gramophone Editor's Choice

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