Gesualdo: Tenebrae Responsaria, Feria Quinta

With their bold harmonies, their counterpoint of unequalled refinement and their raw emotion, the Tenebrae Responsories are the sacred counterpart to Gesualdo's last two books of madrigals, published the same year (1611). Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants here prolong their critically acclaimed exploration of those six increasingly venomous collections. Their interpretation of the Responsories for Maundry Thursday subtly shifts towards the conscious dolorism of the late works of the Prince of Venosa.