Inspired by the life and music of murderous composer Carlo Gesualdo to reveal a portrait of monstrosity, Death of Gesualdo marks The Gesualdo Six’s second theatrical collaboration with Bill Barclay, and Concert Theatre Works following the immense success of their on-going project Secret Byrd.
In this staged concert The Gesualdo Six are joined by six dancers choreographed by Will Tuckett whose credits include new work for Royal Ballet, English National Ballet and Royal Shakespeare Company among others. The dancers enact stunning tableaux vivant, filled with iconography taken directly from Renaissance painting, to superimpose Gesualdo’s psyche onto his most chilling music.
The result will be 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.
Touring the UK in London and York, in the US in NYC, and with more dates to be announced for 2026.
Upcoming Tour Dates
London, UK: St Martin-in-the-Fields
Friday 16 January 2026 at 7pm • Tickets
Saturday 17 January 2026 at 7pm • Tickets
York, UK: National Centre for Early Music
Sunday 18 January 2026 at 6.30pm • Tickets
Monday 19 January 2026 at 6.30pm • Tickets
New York, USA: St. John the Divine
Friday 13 February 2026 at 7.30pm • Tickets
More dates for 2026 to be announced.
About the Music
Madrigalist Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613) may be most famous for murdering his wife and her lover in bed in an explosive fit of jealousy, but among composers he is revered for anticipating chromaticism by 200 years.
Gesualdo’s tortured mind led him into a life of suffering, concluding in astonishing tales of witchcraft and malfeasance. However macabre his biography surely is, the Prince of Venosa’s malignant narcissism can be traced to key incidents from his dark upbringing in the zero sum game of Catholic politics.
Music is selected and edited by Bill Barclay, drawing from Tenebrae, the mass Gesualdo wrote for his own death, and his most fascinating madrigals from books 4, 5, and 6. A new score is created with Gesualdo’s finest works, through-sung in a 75-minute rhapsody of one of the most fascinating and infamous characters in music history.
Death of Gesualdo has been co-commissioned by St Martin-in-the-Fields for the opening of the 300th anniversary of St Martin’s Church, The National Centre for Early Music in York, and Music Before 1800 in NYC.