Episodes
| Series | Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 01 | Getting Away With Murder | 20180326 | 20201123 (R3) | Donald Macleod looks at the life and music of Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa, notorious for the murder of his first wife and cousin, Maria d'Avalos. In his earliest extant composition, he pleads for divine mercy for his misdeeds. This was written several years before committing a brutal murder to defend his honour. Until the death of his older brother, Carlo Gesualdo was always destined for a career in the Church. But on becoming the heir to the house of Gesualdo he married his beautiful cousin, Maria d'Avalos, said to be the most beautiful woman in Naples. Later, learning of her infidelity, he was obliged to act to preserve the honour of his house. Donald recounts some of the horrendous events of that night in 1590 when Gesualdo - a man passionately interested in music and in hunting - would deal with his wife and her lover. Moro lasso (transcribed by T怀nu Kaljuste) Tallinn Chamber Orchestra Ne reminiscaris; In te Domine speravi La Compagnia del Madrigale Baci soave e cari; Quanto ha di dolce Amore; Mentre Madonna il lasso fianco posa; Ahi, troppo saggia nell'erar Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam Harry van der Kamp, director Com'esser pu ch'io viva se m'uccidi; Son s쀀 belle le rose; Bell'angioletta da le vaghe piume Caro amoroso neo; Ma se tale ha costei; Se cosi dolce e il duolo; Ma se averra ch'io moia Delitiae Musicae Marco Longhini, director Canzon francese del principe Fabio Antonio Falcone, harpsichord Sento che nel partire Kassiopeia Quintet O Crux benedicta (arranged by Erkki Sven Tüür) Tallinnn Chamber Orchestra T怀nu Kaljuste, conductor. Donald Macleod looks at the curious life and music of Carlo Gesualdo. |
| 2018 | 02 | A Second Marriage | 20180327 | 20201124 (R3) | Donald Macleod looks at the extraordinary life and music of Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa. A mere two years after murdering his first wife, the beautiful Donna Maria d'Avalos, Gesualdo is betrothed to marry another eligible woman - Leonora d'Este. He sets out for the Este court at Ferrara and, among the 300 items of luggage he transports there, takes care to pack his books of madrigals. The experience of Ferrara's wondrous musical culture will profoundly influence his own compositions. As to the second marriage - it was barely happier than Gesualdo's first. Felice primavera; Danzan le Ninfe; Tirsi morir volea Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam Harry Van Der Kamp, director Io tacero Les Arts Florissants William Christie, director Gagliarda del Principe di Venosa Delitiae Musicae Marco Longhini, director Come vivi cor mio; All'ombra degli allori Languisco e moro; Dolcissimo sospiro Luci serene e chiare; Arde il mio cor Sparge la morte al mio Signor Marco Longhini, director. Donald Macleod continues his account of the astonishing life and music of Carlo Gesualdo. |
| 2018 | 03 | A Matter Of Love And Death | 20180328 | 20201125 (R3) | Donald Macleod continues his look at the life and music of Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa. Now remarried, Gesualdo is far from being a model husband. There are whispers that he abuses her verbally, and sometimes physically. Certainly, they spend many months apart. As ever, Gesualdo is obsessed with music, and in common with some of his contemporaries further explores the expressive possibilities of chromaticism and counterpoint in madrigals and motets. Both Gesualdo and Leonora, his wife, take delight in their young son Alfonsino, but will be devastated when the infant falls ill and dies. Moro, e mentre spiro; Quando di lui ha sospirata vita; Ecco, moriro dunque; Ahi, gia mi discoloro Delitiae Musicae Marco Longhini, director Illumina faciem tuam; Tribulationem et dolorem; Laboravi in gemitu meo Oxford Camerata Jeremy Summerly, director Sospirava il mio core; O mal nati messaggi; Se piange, oime, la Donna del mio core The Kassiopeia Quintet Io tacero, ma nel silenzio mio; Invan, dunque, o crudele O vos omnes; Exaudi, Deus, deprecationem meam; Venit lumen tuum Odhecaton Paolo da Col, director Correte, amanti Les Arts Florissants William Christie, director. Donald Macleod continues the story of Carlo Gesualdo as he develops his particular style. |
| 2018 | 04 | Sorcery And Sacred Songs | 20180329 | 20201126 (R3) | Donald Macleod continues the strange and sometimes baffling tale of Carlo Gesualdo. Frequently ill and afflicted with melancholy, he is caught up in an extraordinary scandal involving two lovers and a potentially deadly charge of dabbling in witchcraft. Nor is his wife Leonora free from the danger of spells and enchantment. She even calls on the services of an exorcist priest to deliver the castle from malign forces at work. Despite this disturbing background, Gesualdo works on writing some of his finest and most moving sacred music. Languisce alfin che de la vita parte; Merce grido piangendo(Fifth Book of Madrigals) La Venexiana Tu m'uccidi, o crudelel, Poeche l'avida sete; Ma tu, cagion (Fifth Book of Madrigals) The Consort of Musicke Anthony Rooley, director Sana me Domine; Discedite a me omens; Da pacem Domine (Sacrae Cantiones, Book 2) Vocal Consort Berlin James Wood, director Tenebrae Responses: Tristis est anima mea; Ecce vidimus eum; Tenebrae factae sunt; Animam meam dilectam tradidi Hilliard Ensemble. Donald Macleod continues the extraordinary story of Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa. |
| 2018 | 05 LAST | The Gesualdo Legacy | 20180330 | 20201127 (R3) | Donald Macleod concludes his account of the extraordinary life and music of Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa. By the time Gesualdo publishes his collection of Responsaries for Holy Week, and his final books of madrigals, he is a sick man, beset by various physical and mental infirmities. Nevertheless, he appears to be determined to secure his future reputation as a musician, and to secure the future of the house of Gesualdo. Estranged from his sole surviving heir from his first marriage, he is briefly reconciled with his son Emmanuele, only to be devastated when that son is killed in a hunting accident, leaving no direct male heir. With the effective extinction of the male line, Gesualdo loses hope and turns his face to the wall. His final publications, printed in his very own castle, secure his reputation as an ingenious, if somewhat unhinged, composer of madrigals and motets. Moro lasso (Sixth Book of Madrigals) La Compagnia del Madrigali Glossa GCD922801 Sicut ovis ad occisionem; Ierusalem, surge; plange quasi virgo (Tenebrae Responses for Holy Saturday) Tenebrae Consort Nigel Short, director Ardita zanzaretta; Gia Pansi; O dolce mio tesoro; Alme d'amor rubelle(Sixth Book of Madrigals) Il Complesso Barocco Alan Curtis, director Astiterunt reges; Aestimatus sum; Sepulto domino (Tenebrae Responses for Holy Saturday) Tribularer si nescirem; O Crux benedicta Odhecaton Ensemble Mare Nostrum Andrea de Carlo, director. Donald Macleod concludes his account of the unusual life and music of Carlo Gesualdo. |