With a score and enough time, it might be possible to memorize Carlo Gesualdo's madrigals. But who could live through it? Beyond their unexpected harmonies, unpredictable melodies, and nearly incomprehensible structures, Gesualdo's madrigals are unbearably expressive and overwhelmingly intense. And then there's the anguished poetry, poetry so extreme that it could be called at best mannerist and at worst sadomasochistic. For listeners to whom Wagner's Tristan is as mother's milk, Gesualdo's madrigals are a Hiroshima ...
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With a score and enough time, it might be possible to memorize Carlo Gesualdo's madrigals. But who could live through it? Beyond their unexpected harmonies, unpredictable melodies, and nearly incomprehensible structures, Gesualdo's madrigals are unbearably expressive and overwhelmingly intense. And then there's the anguished poetry, poetry so extreme that it could be called at best mannerist and at worst sadomasochistic. For listeners to whom Wagner's Tristan is as mother's milk, Gesualdo's madrigals are a Hiroshima cocktail, heavy on the fallout.But as lovely and lovable as Gesualdo's madrigals could ever sound, they do in this excellent recording of his fifth book of madrigals by the Spanish vocal sextet La Venexiana. Led by countertenor Claudio Cavina, La Venexiana sings with a pure tone and impeccable intonation, thereby making Gesualdo's tortured music sound as beautiful as imaginable. Cavina even leads performances of the excruciating Mercè grido piangendo and O tenebroso giorno to flawless...
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