BaL 19.05.12 Gesualdo

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

0930 Building a Library: Tess Knighton discusses her personal recommendations of Gesualdo on record.

Recommendations:

Madrigals choice:
Madrigali libro quinto 1611
GESUALDO: Gioite voi col canto; S'io non miro non moro; Itene, o miei sospiri; Dolcissima mia vita; O dolorosa gioia; Qual fora, donna, un dolce Ohime; Felicissimo sonno; Se vi duol il mio duolo; Occhi del mio cor vita; Languisce al fin chi da la vita parte; Merce grido piangendo; O voi, troppo felici; Correte, amanti, a prova; Asciugate i begli occhi; Tu m'uccidi, oh crudele; Deh, coprite il bel seno; Poiche l'avida sete; O tenebroso giorno; Se tu fuggi, io non resto; T'amo mia vita, la mia cara vita
La Venexiana
GLOSSA GCD920935 (CD)

Tenebrae responsories choice:
GESUALDO: Feria V Responsoria 1-9; Feria VI Responsoria 1-9; Sabbato Sancto Responsoria 1-9; Benedictus; Miserere The Hilliard Ensemble
ECM ECM8438672 (2-CD)

[LeMartinPecheur]

I'm still hoping for a commercial release of 'Gesualdo: The original CCTV footage'

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I'm still hoping for a commercial release of 'Gesualdo: The original CCTV footage'

[Richard Tarleton]

0930 Building a Library: Tess Knighton discusses her personal recommendations of Gesualdo on record.

Professor Knighton's BALs are always most informative. We were told at one stage she even contemplated becoming a nun so as to gain access to rare Spanish manuscripts kept in monasteries and otherwise inaccessible to female academics...

[verismissimo]

Hardly a rush to participate on these boards. And, speaking personally, he's a composer I've neglected. Aside from a few brief things, all I seem to have in my "library" is a 1970s LP of the Deller Consort singing G's Benedictus and Miserere. It's lovely!

Maybe I'll be persuaded to invest.

[vinteuil]

Hardly a rush to participate on these boards. And, speaking personally, he's a composer I've neglected. / ... /

Maybe I'll be persuaded to invest.

... yes, I have so far never really taken to him - and find (somewhat to my surprise)I have not a single CD devoted to his work (tho' there are bits on various anthology-type CDs).

Well, perhaps I'll be persuaded

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I have the NAXOS CD and a cover disc from a BBC Music Mag - plus the Stravinsky and some of the Sciarrino arrangements. I'm looking forward to the BaL to see what else I should explore ... and probably invest in!

[gurnemanz]

I have only one disc which I bought a few years ago after rave reviews - the Fifth Book of Madrigals with La Venexiana. It is superb and will surely figure in the review.

[Richard Tarleton]

My curiosity was first aroused by a passing reference in an Alfred Brendel TV interview a while back. In his book of conversations with Michael Meyer, "The Veil of Order" (2001) he says (p. 79) :

...On the other hand I have become aware in recent decades of composers like Monteverdi and, above all, Gesualdo. Gesulado has since been one of my declared favourites, with his inexhaustible and inexplicable chromaticism that for me never loses any of its appeal....

Brendel has a way of making passing references which are but the tips of icebergs, viz a reference to Mussorgsky on the same page.

I have the Hilliard Ensemble's complete Tenebrae, and a Naxos disc of Madrigals Book 1. Like ferney I'm

looking forward to the BaL to see what else I should explore

Quite apart from anything else, he sounds a fascinating, not to say tragic, bloke, though not half as tragic as his unfortunate wife and her lover

[hedgehog]

I too am looking forward to this BAL. I have Venexxiana Book 4& 5 of the madrigals plus the Hilliard's performance of the Tenebrae - all magnificent CD's

I haven't heard the Concerto Italiano's CD which includes some Gesualdo madrigals - hope they might also get a look in as maybe a good way to get to know Gesualdo.

I have sung some of his madrigals as part of a 16 strong chamber choir - taxing, but very rewarding!

[Don Petter]

0930 Building a Library: Tess Knighton discusses her personal recommendations of Gesualdo on record.

On the schedule it says
'Tess Knighton surveys recordings of works by Gesualdo and makes recommendations'
but it seems to be
'Tess Knighton and Andrew McGregor have a cosy chat, agreeing on many things, and often refer to Gesualdo along the way'.

I am finding TK's observations interesting, but I think R3's use of the chat-up format is becoming far too prevalent.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've just switched it off. I shall refrain from further comment. It would not be polite.

[DracoM]

So repetitive - TK's 'spontaneous' reactions / intros etc kept saying the same thing. AMcG's interpolations were designed to keep her motoring, BUT if she had presented a pre-recorded and properly scripted BAL, we might have heard more and got to the essence of TK's ideas quicker. And I really DO dislike the long intro that more or less tells us how to react to an extract. If you are doing a comparison then play the two examples as close together as you can so that the listener has in his /her head sound A so that sound B is a genuine contrast offered. With a lot of guff between sounds A and B, you are in some danger of losing the sense of contrast. Agree with Don Petter above in his last comment.

BUT all that said, a revealing and interesting piece of radio journalism doing a good job for Gesualdo who surprises and even shocks - bit patronising to the Consort of Muscke - 'oh, snigger snigger, gosh, a bit old-fashioned, but what else could the poor darlings do, they thought they were cutting edge, but we know differently now..." stuff didn't go down too well with me.

[Curalach]

A prime example of how talking about music instead of playing it can miss the point. Despite AMcG's best efforts, TK did a great job of boring for Britain.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Well, for what it's worth, I thought this was an inspirational BaL which made me want to listen to much more of Gesualdo's Music than I have hitherto. Like others, my heart sank when I heard it was going to be another "conversation piece" and Ms Knighton was prone to "gush" (and, yes, snigger) occasionally - the usual problem in a Live broadcast, and I so wish they could have recorded and edited the discussion. Because, when focussed on the Music, the two of them got to the essence of this astonishing composer: the extracts were long enough to illustrate the points of Harmony and texture in the Music, and balance, pacing and diction in the performances. It whetted my previously damp enthusiasm to hear more of the Music: I don't think I could reasonably ask more from the programme.