Gesualdo - Tenebrae Responsoria

Gesualdo: Tenebrae Responsoria / Composer: Carlo Gesualdo / Conductor: Francesco Cera / Number of Discs: 1 / Length: 1 Hours 18 Mins. / Recorded in 2013. Don Carlo Gesualdo was an Italian nobleman, remembered for two particular feats: one is the murder of his wife and her lover, the other is his extraordinary music, in which he stretches tonality and chromatism to it's limits, creating a haunting and sometimes even sinister atmosphere, foreshadowing 20th century music (he was one of Stravinsky's favorite composers). The Tenebrae Responsoria were part of the Liturgy for the Holy week, and are embedded in the story of The Passion of Christ, making use of texts from the St Matthew gospel and the Psalms. It is a moving and highly dramatic work, in which Gesualdo makes frequent use of "tone painting", the musical depiction of human emotions, like weeping and crying, desolation and dejection. Superb performances by Ensemble Arte Musica, led by Francesco Cera, specialist in this field.