Gesualdo: Madrigali Exaudi Vocal Ensemble

• Carlo Gesualdo (1566 - 1613):
• 1 Mercè!', grido piangendo (V) 04:22
• 2 Io pur respiro in così gran dolore (Vi) 03:04
• 3 Itene, o miei sospiri (V) 02:59
• 4 Gioite voi col canto (V) 03:17
• 5 Io parto' e non più dissi (Vi) 03:21
• 6 S'io non miro non moro (V) 02:56
• 7 Deh, come invan sospiro (Vi) 03:28
• 8 Mille volte il dì moro (Vi) 03:12
• 9 Asciugate i begli occhi (V) 04:02
• 10 O dolorosa gioia (V) 03:56
• 11 Se la mia morte brami (Vi) 03:47
• 12 Ardita zanzaretta (Vi) 03:18
• 13 Volan quasi farfalle (Vi) 02:32
• 14 Al mio gioir il ciel si fa sereno (Vi) 02:11
• 15 Dolcissima mia vita (V) 02:46
• 16 Tu piangi, o Filli mia (Vi) 03:10
• 17 Moro, lasso, al mio duolo (Vi) 03:47
• 18 Languisce al fin chi da la vita parte (V) 04:24
• Total Runtime 01:00:32

Info for Gesualdo: Madrigali

James Weeks writes: “EXAUDI, long-established among the UK's leading vocal consorts, presents fresh readings of 19 of Gesualdo's madrigals from Books V and VI, combining rigorous stylistic understanding and tonal beauty with an overriding focus on the music's extreme expressive vision. The late madrigals of Gesualdo exert a strange and enduring fascination on the modern musical imagination. Listening today to these extraordinary messages of anguish and ecstasy, we are drawn back to his flame like lovers who can’t let go, into the warp of chromatic harmony, the emotional hyper-intensity and mysterious otherness of this most tantalising early Baroque figure.”

Exaudi Vocal Ensemble

EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble Formed in 2002 and comprising some of the UK’s top ensemble singers and new music soloists, EXAUDI has collaborated with hundreds of composers, from today’s leading figures to tomorrow’s stars, evolving a unique and expanding repertoire that has blazed new trails in contemporary vocal composition.

EXAUDI’s special affinity is for the radical edges of music both new and old, whether mind-bending medieval rhythm, Renaissance or 21st-century microtonality or experimental aesthetics, championing composers as diverse as Cassandra Miller, Michael Finnissy, Jürg Frey, Catherine Lamb, Evan Johnson and Naomi Pinnock. A strong feature of its programming is the mixing of early and new music in imaginative and arresting combinations: new female perspectives on Gesualdo and the Italian madrigal, or James Weeks’ reimagining of Arcadelt in Book of Flames and Shadows (Winter & Winter, 2022).

Committed to growing the future of new music, EXAUDI is also strongly involved with the emerging generation of young composers and singers, and regularly takes part in artist development schemes and residencies such as Voix Nouvelles Royaumont and IRCAM Manifeste Academie. EXAUDI has particularly strong links with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London, and is an Ensemble-in-Residence at Durham University. The ensemble is a proud signatory to the Keychange initiative, pledging gender-equal programming across its own-promotion activities.

EXAUDI’s many international engagements include Wittener Tage, Darmstadter Ferienkurse, Musica Viva (Munich), Muziekgebouw (Amsterdam), IRCAM (Paris), Festival d’Automne (Paris), Voix Nouvelles (Royaumont), Musica (Strasbourg), MAfestival (Bruges), CDMC (Madrid), Milano Musica (Milan/Turin), Fundaciò BBVA (Bilbao) and L’Auditori (Barcelona). The ensemble has also collaborated with many leading ensembles including musikFabrik, Ensemble Modern, L’Instant Donné, London Sinfonietta, BCMG, Talea (NY), Linea, Helsinki Philharmonic and Ensemble InterContemporain.

EXAUDI has appeared at many leading UK venues and festivals, including BBC Proms, Aldeburgh, Sound (Aberdeen), Spitalfields, Manchester International Festival and hcmf//, Wigmore Hall, Café OTO, Kings Place and South Bank. EXAUDI broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3 and European radio stations, and has released 20 critically acclaimed recordings on the Winter&Winter, Kairos, NMC, ÆON, Métier, Mode, Confront and HCR labels.

Booklet for Gesualdo: Madrigali