The premiere of Death of Gesualdo, the new theatrical concert by The Gesualdo Six in collaboration with director Bill Barclay, has been met with strong critical acclaim.
Presented on 16 and 17 January 2026 at St Martin-in-the-Fields as part of the church’s 300th anniversary celebrations, the production blends Renaissance polyphony with dramatic tableaux, puppetry and staged ritual. Death of Gesualdo explores the inner life and music of Carlo Gesualdo, the radical late-Renaissance composer infamous for the murder of his wife and her lover.
Critics praised both the ensemble’s vocal brilliance and theatrical vision:
“The male vocalists of Owain Park’s Gesualdo Six sing the composer’s music with white-hot conviction, aptly astringent tonal colours and intonation so perfect that it almost makes you forget how challenging it is to deliver those chromatic lines and jolting harmonic non sequiturs.”
- Richard Morrison, The Times
“Singing with precision, pure tone and nuanced expression, their eyes blackened as if gouged out, the Gesualdo Six are outstanding.”
- Erica Jeal, The Guardian
" The Gesualdo Six sang with their customary relish, biting into the crunchy dissonances." - Mark Pullinger, Bachtrack
"the emotional and psychological context of his extraordinary music, performed here with supreme precision by The Gesualdo Six. " - Barry Millington, The Times
"Sustaining seventy-five minutes of almost continuous singing with such a consistent white-toned sound is no small achievement. Particularly impressive was the ensemble’s control of blend and balance. The voices were perfectly matched, creating a homogeneous texture in which individual lines remained audible without ever asserting themselves unduly." - Fiona Maclean, London Unattached
The concert was commissioned by Music Beyond 1800 in New York City, with the US Premiere taking place there at Cathedral of St. John the Divine on February 13.
