Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri primo & secondo

Carlo Gesualdo is as notorious as he is celebrated: a prince, a count, a composer and a murderer who killed his first wife and her lover upon catching them together. His music is as knotty as his life—challenging to sing, much of it is full of chromatic dissonance and intriguing, daring key changes. And there’s real emotional depth here thanks to Gesualdo’s matchless word-painting, each choral work demonstrating the boundless fertility of his imagination. His first and second books of madrigals contain examples of his finest work, all performed here with agility and spot-on tuning by Les Arts Florissants and Paul Agnew.