From Amazon.com
In music circles, the name Carlo Gesualdo is usually followed by a strange look, knowing smile, or whimsical comment. The 16th-century Italian composer was nothing if not colorful, and his startlingly unusual music reflects an avant-garde approach to just about all aspects of his craft. Apart from his music, Gesualdo, Prince of Verona, was famously known for murdering his adulterous wife. In his music, especially his madrigals, he seemed to pay no attention to convention, or even to accepted rules of harmony and melodic structure. As heard in the works on this disc, nothing is predictable, from sudden, surprising leaps, to disjointed melodies, jerky rhythms, and occasionally shocking harmonic shifts. Of course, music of this nature is difficult to sing, which is why you rarely hear these works in concert or on recordings. We are fortunate to have such skilled and imaginative interpreters as Les Arts Florissants, who present these marvelous pieces with real artistic flair and a true sense of fun.
--David Vernier
Chronique amazon.fr
William Christie part de nouveau à la découverte d’un compositeur trop souvent oublié : Carlo Gesualdo. Compositeur réputé fou dangereux (il fut accusé de meurtre), Gesualdo développe musicalement dans ces
Madrigaux nombre de poèmes morbides. Cette oeuvre serait comparable à un long voyage auprès de la mort ou de l’idée que l’on s’en fait. Un disque rare dans un siècle plutôt bercé par les fastes et une certaine idée de l’insouciance.
--Pierre Graveleau
