Gesualdo is often remembered for the murder of his wife and her lover, but did this tragedy obscure his true passion - Faith? In 1611, before his death, he published Responsories for Holy Week, depicting Christ’s final moments in intricate polyphony. The depth of the subject inspired some of his most expressive music.

EPSG:4326

Les Arts Florissants & Amala Dianor Company

Barbican Centre

The Tallis Scholars · Phillips · Kobler · Ensemble Musikfabrik · Volkov

Kollegienkirche

Students from the Royal Danish Academy of Music visit Frederiksberg Church with a classical program.

Wednesday concert with students from the Royal Danish Academy of Music

Frederiksberg Kirke

Wednesday Concert

Frederiksberg Church

Incoming Associate Professor of Trombone Nick Platoff performs a recital including works by Hildegard von Bingen, Gesualdo, J.S. Bach, as well as his own compositions. The program will also feature students of the Shepherd School trombone studio. 

Nick Platoff, Trombone

Alice Pratt Brown Hall

The recently formed group made up of students past and present from the Royal Academy of Music quickly established itself by winning the prestigious 2023 Philip Jones International Brass Ensemble Competition, plus a further prize for inventive programming. Two works in this concert, including a world première, are by fellow RAM young composers; James Tavares, meanwhile, is the ensemble’s tuba player.

London Central Brass

Wigmore Hall

Premiered earlier this year, Bushra El-Turk’s new work celebrates singers from the Arab Cultural Renaissance. It resonates with Gesualdo’s tortured madrigal, and Schubert’s searing quartet references one of his most harrowing songs. Comfort is at hand, however. Originally conceived for the ondes martenot; repurposed in the Quartet for the End of Time, Messiaen’s Oraison contemplates the eternal.

Dudok Quartet: Abandoned Voices

Milton Court Concert Hall

Join us for an unforgettable evening with the La Jolla Music Society's "Midweek Masterworks: Notes on a Scandal" on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, at 7 PM in the prestigious Baker-Baum Concert Hall. This unique musical event delves into the depths of passion, exploring the madness, jealousy, and ecstasy it can inspire through a carefully curated selection of compositions that narrate love's most dangerous consequences.

The evening's program features an evocative lineup, starting with Gesualdo's "Two Madrigals" arranged for string quintet, bringing to life the composer's tumultuous emotional landscape. Performers include the talented Simone Porter and Blake Pouliot on violins, Matthew Lipman and Masumi Per Rostad on violas, and Paul Wiancko on cello.

The journey into scandalous love affairs continues with Debussy's "Six Epigraphes Antiques for Piano Four-Hands," a piece that captures the composer's own sordid affairs. The piano will be masterfully handled by Inon Barnatan and Conrad Tao, promising a performance that intertwines complexity with beauty.

The final piece, Franck's "Piano Quintet in F Minor," is a powerful exploration of torrid infatuation. Conrad Tao returns to the piano, joined by Blake Pouliot and Simone Porter on violins, Masumi Per Rostad on viola, and Paul Wiancko on cello, to bring this passionate work to life.

Enhance your experience with "Midweek Cheers" – enjoy a complimentary glass of champagne at these special intermission-less concerts. After the performance, join fellow concertgoers for a celebratory toast in the Wu Tsai QRT.yrd, creating a perfect ending to an evening of exquisite music and shared experiences.

Don't miss this musical exploration of love's darkest corners with the La Jolla Music Society. Secure your tickets now for an evening that promises not only exceptional performances but also a deep dive into the emotions that drive us all.

Midweek Masterworks: Notes on a Scandal

Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center

It is a popular romantic theme: the fine line between genius and madness. In Beethoven’s case, all one needs to do is look at the portrait of the agitated artist with tangled hair and crazy eyes, who jots his notes down on paper in a manic creative frenzy and in the face of impending deafness. Wolf was hospitalized twice – and died in the clinic. When Schumann was admitted to Endenich, “melancholy with delusion” was noted as a diagnosis in the admission book. And the Italian Renaissance prince Carlo Gesualdo was not only a gifted composer, but very probably also a murderer. In the chromatic descent at the end of his madrigal, we seem to hear the agony of a guilty man tormented by remorse. The result? Insanely brilliant music!

Chamber Concert: Genius and Madness

Munich Residence

Evangelische Akademie

Schwebend

Technikum

Three game-changing musicians combine their talents into one sensational and eclectic group. Violinist Stefan Jackiw, cellist Jay Campbell, and pianist Conrad Tao have all dazzled Celebrity Series audiences in unexpected pairings, and the trio will deliver a program that interweaves the old and the new: arrangements of chant and madrigals and a Schumann trio sit alongside a Celebrity Series co-commission for the group, Bells and Whistles by Amy Williams.


Junction Trio

New England Conservatory

Artistic Director Daria Adams curates a one-hour program of four pieces by living composers, whose works look back in some way, then weaves them together with their historical counterparts. This leads to some fascinating juxtapositions, such as a song by Hildegard von Bingen from 1100 A.D with a work for strings and harpsichord by Michi Wiancko from 2021. Daria has paired Elizabethan ­era songs by John Dowland, Italian madrigals by Gesualdo, and a Bourree by J.S. Bach with modern counterparts by Wiancko and Caroline Shaw. 

Music in the Vineyards

Napa Methodist Church

California Festival Concert

Wine and buffet dinner will be served after the hour long concert.

Tulsa Performing Arts Center

This specially-curated programme is inspired by four of the Garden Follies at Highclere Castle – The Temple of Diana, The Walled Garden, The Etruscan Temple and Heaven’s Gate – arching the line of a love story from first meeting to final parting.

Sansara

Highclere Castle

Pianist and composer Conrad Tao made his SPCO debut in a program built around Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s monumental Piano Concerto No. 24. A Renaissance madrigal by Carlo Gesualdo, a sunny keyboard concerto by C.P.E. Bach, and a cryptic work for viola and piano by Morton Feldman were like a twisting labyrinth of darkness and light that anticipated the harmonic instability and searching quality of Mozart’s concerto. Ruth Crawford-Seeger’s Music for Small Orchestra framed this journey with a slow, pensive descent into the dark maze and a roguish finale that climbs towards a window of light.

Conrad Tao Plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24

Ted Mann Concert Hall

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

Death and the Maiden

Samford University

For the final program of the season, every note awakens the soul, reaffirming music’s timeless power to guide us toward joy and meaning—even when none seems to be found. Led by celebrated BSO Choral Director James Burton, “Boston’s best professional chorus” (The Boston Musical Intelligencer) delivers a concert experience unlike any other in our season, showcasing the transcendent music of Bach, Brahms, Gesualdo, and more–reminding us that in music, we can rediscover hope.

Carlo Gesualdo

Events

Upcoming events

Apr 14, 2026

Death and the Maiden · Alabama Symphony Orchestra

29 - 31 May, 2026

Voices Carry · Handel and Haydn Society

Past events

Oct 16, 2025

Les Arts Florissants & Amala Dianor Company · Barbican Centre

Jul 20, 2025

The Tallis Scholars · Phillips · Kobler · Ensemble Musikfabrik · Volkov · Salzburger Festspiele

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