Following a string of 5-star reviews and sell-out performances, The Gesualdo Six return to St Martin’s with Death of Gesualdo. Reunited with director Bill Barclay, the ensemble brings this visceral theatrical experience to our stage once again following widespread international acclaim.
Six singers, six actors and a puppet enact a series of narrative tableaux which open on the composer’s deathbed and superimpose iconic moments from his life onto some of his most chilling music. The result, a Stations of the Cross for the composer’s tortured conscience, is the boldest look yet at how the life and music of this enigmatic prodigy must function together for the true Gesualdo to emerge from the shadows.
The madrigalist Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613) may be most famous for murdering his wife and her lover in bed, but among composers he is revered for anticipating chromaticism by 200 years. Gesualdo’s tortured mind led him into a life of violence and suffering, concluding in appalling tales of sorcery and flagellation. However shockingly macabre his biography, the Prince of Venosa’s malignant narcissism can be traced to key incidents from his upbringing in the zero-sum game of Catholic politics.
Commissioned by St Martin-in-the-Fields, The National Centre for Early Music in York, and Music Before 1800 in NYC.
Additional Info
Date: Fri 12 March & Sat 13 March 2027, Various Times
Running Time: 1 hour with no interval
Tickets: £10, £12, £30, £45, £50, £60
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Performed by The Gesualdo Six (director Owain Park) with six actors.
Created and directed by Bill Barclay
Choreography by Will Tuckett
Puppet design by Janni Younge
Costumes by Arthur Oliver
Produced by Concert Theatre Works
"The Gesualdo Six sing with white-hot conviction... intonation so perfect that it almost makes you forget how challenging it is."
The Times ★★★★★"Outstanding... and compelling combination of beauty and horror."
The Guardian ★★★★"A dark treat for sombre times... a compelling guide through the labyrinth of the composer's tortured genius."
The Arts Desk ★★★★"A series of tableaux vivants lit as exquisitely as Caravaggio’s paintings... the agony and the ecstasy were both palpable."
Bachtrack ★★★★"Rarely have madrigals seemed so harrowingly potent... performed here with supreme precision."
Evening Standard ★★★★"Visually, Death of Gesualdo has moments of wonder... the barely lit figures suggest the visual world of Caravaggio."
The Reviews Hub ★★★★
Dates, Times & Book
St Martin-in-the-Fields
The Gesualdo Six and Bill Barclay: Death of Gesualdo
Friday 12 - Saturday 13 March 2027Following a string of 5-star reviews and sell-out performances, The Gesualdo Six return to St Martin’s with Death of Gesualdo. Reunited with director Bill Barclay, the ensemble brings this visceral theatrical experience to our stage once again following widespread international acclaim.