The Gesualdo Six and Tableaux Vivants in Death Of Gesualdo
WE are witnessing the birth of a new art form. Bill Barclay’s “theatrical concert”, which he both created and directed, is by no means his first in this area – The Secret Byrd was seen here two years ago – but it is becoming a solid fixture in programmes worldwide.
Carlo Gesualdo flourished at the very moment when opera was beginning to take shape in Florence, although he had no direct contact with it, and wrote no operas himself. But the Baroque era loved theatrics and it makes sense to cloak Gesualdo’s colourful life in even more drama than is available through his music alone.
Gesualdo is regularly defined by the murder of his first wife and her lover, which he probably instigated, although may not have carried out personally. In his aristocratic circles it was classed as an ‘honour killing’ and he escaped punishment.
But it stained the remainder of his life and he descended into near-permanent melancholy and introversion – states of mind that may be heard in much of his later music, amply represented here.
His second marriage, into the musically adventurous Ferrara court, did nothing to improve his disposition, indeed it reinforced his penchant for extremes of harmonic dissonance.
Barclay uses six unaccompanied male voices and six Tableaux Vivants mute actors to convey the essence of the composer’s life, not only his death. He also works with a life-size child puppet, created by Janni Younge, through which he hints that Gesualdo’s boyhood was far from ideal.
The action was a series of tableaux, elegantly held but broken intermittently by sweeping gestures and even the occasional dance to Will Tuckett’s choreography. With rich costumes by Arthur Oliver straight out of the era – again, the very start of opera – the various scenarios evoked nothing so much as oil paintings, with poses just slightly exaggerated for effect.
Barclay’s own lighting, especially eerie during Gesualdo’s descent into drugs and women, often came from torches held by the cast themselves.
Deliberately jarring with the theatrical smoothness was Gesualdo’s music, some 30 extracts from his motets and madrigals, interleaved and distinguishable only by the Latin or Italian texts, with tingling harmonies that defied all the normal conventions: impossible dissonances that kept aural nerve-endings on edge until eventual resolution brought catharsis all the sweeter for being delayed.
None of this would have worked had the singers not maintained incredibly accurate tuning. Gesualdo’s chromatic lines are notoriously difficult and littered with pitfalls, but the Six – with two countertenors often extremely high in the range and all underpinned by director Owain Park’s sterling bass – took it all in their considerable stride.
The show was jointly commissioned and produced by St Martin-in-the-Fields, the NCEM and New York’s Music Before 1800. It proved beyond doubt that Barclay’s new genre is here to stay.
Let us hope that next time there will be printed programmes – ‘carbon footprint’ is a lame excuse for posting everything on-line – and that there is at least a skeletal synopsis (the five ‘acts’ had no stated setting). None of which detracts from what was a supremely memorable 75 minutes. I would gladly see it again. Others should be given the chance.
Audience members of all ages enjoying Opera North: Little Listeners. Picture: Tom Arber
IN his third highlights package of the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out a riparian exhibition, murderous deeds in 1590 and 1950s’ Italy, Davina’s wellbeing tips and a tribute on Shaky ground.
Family event of the week: Opera North: Little Listeners, National Centre for Early Music, York, today, 2pm and 3.15pm
OPERA North: Little Listeners is a treasure hunt with a tuneful twist, where the Orchestra of Opera North needs your help to find hidden musical gems. Discover different “Tuneful Treasures” as you go, collecting them all in time for the grand finale in this relaxed, interactive concert.
“Singing and movement is not just encouraged – it’s expected!” says the Leeds company. “Join us to experience the magic of orchestral music up close, whatever your age. We can’t wait to sing and dance with you.” Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Death Of Gesualdo: Tableaux Vivants team up with The Gesualdo Six and a puppet at the NCEM on Sunday and Monday
World premiere of the month: Death Of Gesualdo, The Gesualdo Six with Tableaux Vivants, National Centre for Early Music, York, Sunday and Monday, 6.30pm to 7.40pm
THE Gesualdo Six reunite with director Bill Barclay for the world premiere of a daring new successor to international hit Secret Byrd. Featuring six singers, six actors and a puppet, Death Of Gesualdo creates living tableaux that illuminate the life and psyche of madrigalist Carlo Gesualdo, a tortured genius most famous for murdering his wife and her lover in an explosive fit of jealousy, but revered among composers for anticipating chromaticism by 200 years.
This is the boldest look yet at how the life and sometimes chilling music of this enigmatic prodigy must function together for the true Gesualdo to emerge from the shadows. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
York Printmakers artist Jane Dignum at work in her studio
Exhibition of the week: York Printmakers, Rivers of York, City Screen Picturehouse, York, until February 7
CELEBRATING York Printmakers’ tenth anniversary, Rivers of York presents original hand-made prints inspired by the River Foss and River Ouse. On show are a variety of printmaking techniques, including etching, linocut, collagraph, monotype, screen print, solar plate, Japanese woodblock, lithography and stencilling, in works that explore the rivers’ place in the history, ecology and culture of York from Roman times to the present.
Taking part are printmakers Pamela Knight; John Haste; Roger Goldthorpe; Lyn Bailey; Safron Sunley; Sandra Storey; Robin Linklater; Bridget Hunt; Sally Clarke; Yvonne Hogarth; Jen Dring; Michelle Hughes; Madelaine Lockwood; Vanessa Oo; Jane Dignum; Jane Duke; Phill Jenkins; Becky Long-Smith; Rachel Holbrow and Sally Parkin.
Ed McVey as Tom Ripley and Bruce Herbelin-Earle as Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr Ripley, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Mark Senior
Game of deception of the week: The Talented Mr Ripley, Grand Opera House, York, January 19 to 24, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
BEFORE its West End run, The Talented Mr Ripley plays the Grand Opera House with a cast led by Ed McVey as Tom Ripley, Bruce Herbelin-Earle as Dickie Greenleaf and 2020 Strictly Come Dancing finalist MaisieSmith as Marge. Tom is a nobody, scraping by in New York, forging signatures, telling little white lies, until a chance encounter changes everything. When a wealthy stranger offers him an all-expenses-paid trip to Italy to bring home his wayward son, Dickie, Tom leaps at the opportunity.
In the sun-drenched glamour of 1950s’ Italy, surrounded by shimmering waters and whispered secrets, Tom is seduced by Dickie’s freedom, wealth and effortless charm. Fascination turns to obsession in Patricia Highsmith’s story, whereupon an innocent chance turns into a chilling game of lies, identity theft and murder. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Davina McCall: Uplifting conversation and personal stories at York Barbican
Talk show of the week: An Evening With Davina, York Barbican, January 22, 7.30pm
REARRANGED from October 22 2025, television presenter and wellness advocate Davina McCall presents an evening of uplifting conversation and personal stories. From her groundbreaking career on screen to her tireless campaigning for women’s health, Davina opens up about the moments that shaped her with honesty, humour and heart, followed by an audience Q&A. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Mr Wilson’s Second Liners: On the front line for New Orleans brass and 1990s’ club culture at The Crescent
When New Orleans converges with Hacienda: Mr Wilson’s Second Liners, The Crescent, York, January 22, 7.30pm
MARDI Gras brass band meets 1990s’ club classics for a rave funeral without a body as a rabble of mischievous northerners, Mr Wilson’s Second Liners form a traditional New Orleans Second Line at The Crescent.
However, this is no sombre occasion: Mr Wilson’s expend their collective musical talent paying homage to the diehard days of the Hacienda, Nineties’ club culture and its greatest hero, Manchester mover and shaker Mr Tony Wilson. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Recommended but sold out already:York indie rock band Skylights’gig at The Crescent on January 23, 7.30pm.
Jeffrey Martin: Blending folk, Americana and literary short stories at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
Folk gig of the week: Please Please You and Brudenell Presents present Jeffrey Martin and special guest Tenderness, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, January 24, 8.15pm (doors 7.30pm)
PORTLAND musician Jeffrey Martin’s narrative-driven songwriting is a blend of folk, Americana and literary short stories with echoes of Raymond Carver. Before turning to music full time in 2016, he spent several years as a high-school English teacher, a profession he left to “chase his dreams at all cost.”
His lyrics are marked by his insight into the human condition, often focusing on the struggles and quiet dignity of people on the margins of society. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
Shakin’ all over: Rebel Dean rolls out the Eighties’ rock’n’roll hits of Shakin’ Stevens at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre
Tribute show of the week:Whole Lotta Shakin’ – The Shakin’ Stevens Story, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, January 25, 7.30pm
ENDORSED by members of Shakin’ Stevens own family, West End star Rebel Dean’s award-winning tribute to Great Britain’s biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s tell the story of the rockin’ Welsh boy and his rise to chart-topping superstardom.
Whole Lotta Shakin’ combines a live band with rare footage and images in a nostalgic night of Shaky hits, Green Door, Oh Julie, You Drive Me Crazy and This Ole House et al, complemented by Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, Ritchie Valens and Elvis Presley numbers that he covered. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Death Of Gesualdo: Bringing together The Gesualdo Six, Tableaux Vivants and a puppet for new drama of jealousy, murder and sublime madrigal music at NCEM
THE Gesualdo Six are reuniting with director Bill Barclay for the world premiere of Death Of Gesualdo, a daring new successor to their international hit Secret Byrd.
Premiered at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, tomorrow and on Saturday, the haunting theatrical concerto, exploring the tormented life and music of Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo, will then head north to the National Centre of Early Music, Walmgate, York, for 6.30pm performances on Sunday and Monday.
Commissioned by St Martin’s as part of its 300th anniversary and produced by Concert Theatre Works, this collaboration with the NCEM and Music Before 1800 in New York City utilises the sextet of Gesualdo singers, six Tableaux Vivants actors and a puppet in “living tableaux to illuminate the forces that shaped the violent life, psyche and visionary work of innovative madrigalist Carlo Gesualdo (1566–1613), Prince of Venosa.
He may be infamous for murdering his unfaithful wife and her lover in an explosive fit of jealousy, but among composers he is revered for anticipating chromaticism – the musical technique of using notes outside the main diatonic scale to add colour, tension, and expression – by 200 years.
Choreographed by Will Tuckett, the dancers enact tableaux vivant – vivid images, like paintings brought to life –filled with iconography to superimpose Gesualdo’s psyche on to 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”.
Director Bill Barclay says: “Gesualdo’s tortured mind led him into a life of violence and suffering, concluding in astonishing tales of witchcraft and malfeasance and appalling tales of sorcery and flagellation. However shockingly macabre his biography is, the Prince of Venosa’s malignant narcissism can be traced to key incidents from his upbringing in the zero-sum game of Catholic politics.”
Opening on the composer’s deathbed, Death Of Gesualdo promises to be a visceral “Stations of the Cross” for the composer’s tortured conscience as much as a bold study of his inseparable life, psyche and music.
Bill says: “I want people to hear the brilliance of Gesualdo’s music, but also to feel the immense human suffering that shaped it. This staging seeks to reveal the guilt and retribution woven through his extraordinary music, brought to life by The Gesualdo Six – some of the finest polyphonic singers in the world.”
The creative team brings together Barclay, Gesualdo Six director Owain Park, Olivier Award-winning choreographer Will Tuckett, best known for his work with The Royal Ballet and his visionary cross-disciplinary approach; former Handspring Puppet Company director Janni Younge and American costume designer Arthur Oliver.
“We so enjoyed doing Secret Byrd with Bill, and when we see Bill, we like to throw around a few ideas, and this is what’s emerged next – as we’re really well positioned to sing Gesualdo’s music,” says Owain.
He suggests Death Of Gesualdo has three layers: musical, dramatic and another layer that “provokes discussion and thoughts without necessarily coming up with the answer to the questions asked”.
“Bill is more interested in providing more questions than answers,” he says, highlighting the need for a balance between what is said and left unsaid. “When we debut the project in London and York, we will know more about that, but for now I can say it’s something we’ve never done before.
“It will be interesting to see how we present music differently, where it will heighten things in a way that you wouldn’t in concert. It becomes more sensory, like smell and touch, as we create pictures to be discovered. I think there’s going to be space for more development – which is interesting – and maybe audiences will need to come again.
“There’s more chance for spontaneity, and that’s exciting, like in sport, where you never know what the result will be, if the formula is right, whereas in music you do, but you can take different routes to the same result, but Death Of Gesualdo is more of a change from that, with the chance to be different each time.”
Secret Byrd visited more than 25 cities, with plans afoot to revisit it in the UK, Ireland and USA. “Last time, the NCEM was at the end of the first tour, so how lovely this time that Delma [NCEM director Delma Tomlin] and the NCEM are at the forefront of this new project, as we’ve built up such a wonderful relationship with them,” says Owain.
For creator-director Barclay, when St Martin’s wanted a “splashy” production to mark its 300th anniversary and suggested Gesualdo, his instinct was to resist at first. “I wasn’t drawn to the murder of his wife and her lover, the central event of his life,” he recalls, “I cherish the music, like anyone else, but I wasn’t just going to do a concert because I knew I had to reckon with the man.”
He enjoys counterpointing singers with other artists, and once he found a video of Tableaux Vivants, he saw the possibilities in Death Of Gesualdo. “I found their work whimsical and beautiful and was struck by how this artform could re-create horrible things in beautiful ways,” he says.
“They can create quite grotesque images but because they’re created right in front of you, there’s a sense they can be done both playfully and beautifully. It struck me as a way I could thread the story of the murder into the performance without all the violence, taking Gesualdo’s music as a framing device, not for the murder, but to explore what’s going through his mind and then opening up the topical subject of odious men.
“It made me think about cancel culture today…and what lessons have we learnt from the social media accelerant that can force someone to be treated as guilty until proven innocent?”
Citing composer Richard Wagner and jazz musician Miles Davis as further examples of “odious” creative talents, Bill says: “What I’m trying to get at is, can you separate the art from the man?
“With Death Of Gesualdo, I’m suggesting that if you consider his life over the music he created, a different picture emerges of this tortured soul, who was probably bisexual. I’m not trying to inspire pity in my audience as to whether he was forced to commit an honour killing or not, but with a sensitive artist such as Gesualdo, he was tortured by various ailments, from bulimic narcissism to bipolarity.”
Bill is thrilled to be teaming up with Owain Park and The Gesualdo Six again. “Owain is a genius, he’s a treasure, and his star burns very brightly. He’s young and he’s just at the beginning of what we expect to be a wonderful career,” he says.
“Working with these wonderful singers at this point benefits everybody, most of all the audience, and we now have two pieces that we can tour around the world as the arts become more interdisciplinary. It’s fun!
“I’m delighted that they [The Gesualdo Six] have trusted me to work with them, rehearsing for longer than they normally would for concerts – and putting on make-up for the performances!”
The Gesualdo Six and Tableaux Vivants, Death Of Gesualdo, National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, January 18 and 19, 6.30pm to 7.40pm. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Lawyer Arthur Kipps (John Mackay) and The Actor (Daniel Burke) in The Woman In Black, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, from January 13
IN his second guide to the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out upcoming highlights on January’s calendar and beyond.
Ghostly return of the week: The Woman In Black, Grand Opera House, York, January 13 to 17, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees
FIRST staged in 1987 in a pub setting by the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s ghost story The Woman In Black returns to the Grand Opera House two years to the month since its last visit.
Elderly lawyer Arthur Kipps (played by John Mackay) is obsessed with his belief that a curse has been cast over his family by the spectre of a “Woman in Black” for 50 years. Whereupon he engages a sceptical young actor (Daniel Burke’s The Actor) to help him tell his terrifying story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul, but the boundaries between fiction and reality begin to blur. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and John Brooks’s scheming Chamberlain in Pickering Musical Society’s Snow White at Kirk Theatre, Pickering. Picture: Robert David Photographer
First Ryedale panto of the New Year: Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25
DIRECTED for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold and scripted by Ron Hall, Pickering Musical Society’s 2026 pantomime blends familiar faces with new turns, led by Alice Rose as Snow White in her first appearance since Goldilocks in 2018.
Local legend Marcus Burnside plays Dame Dumpling alongside mischievous sidekick Jack Dobson as court jester Fritz, his first comedic role. Company regular Courtney Brown switches to comedy too as Helga; Paula Cook turns to the dark side in her villainous debut as Queen Lucrecia; Danielle Long is the heroic Prince Valentine, John Brooks, the scheming Chamberlain and Sue Smithson, Fairy Dewdrop. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.
Cellist Eloise Ramchamdani
Dementia Friendly Tea Concert of the week: Eloise Ramchandani and Robert Gammon, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, January 15, 2.30pm
ELOISE Ramchandani gives an all Saint-Saëns cello recital, accompanied by pianist Robert Gammon. The 45-minute programme includes the well-loved The Swan, lively Allegro Appassionato and beautiful Cello Concerto No. 1.
Ideal for those who may not feel comfortable at a formal classical concert, the relaxed recital will be followed by tea, coffee and homemade cakes in the church hall. Seating is unreserved; no charge applies but donations are welcome.
Malton and Norton Theatre’s principal cast for Aladdin – The Pantomime: left to right, Amelia Little (So-Shy); Tom Gleave (Wishee Washee); Annabelle Free (Spirit of the Ring); Alexander Summers (Executioner); Isobel Davis (Princess Jasmine); Mark Summers (Genie of the Lamp); Harriet White (Aladdin); Harry Summers (Abanazar); Thomas Jennings (The Emperor); Evie-Mae Dale (Sergeant Pong); Malcolm Tonkiss (Mangle Malcolm) and Jack Robinson (PC World)
Second Ryedale pantomime of the New Year: Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 17, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; January 18, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm
BETWIXT York roles in York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy and Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, Harry Summers continues to corner the market in dark, dramatic and deliciously boo-worthy roles as wicked magician Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin.
Fresh from his villainous scene-stealing in The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Jennings plays the Emperor, insisting he is “one of the good guys”, even if his idea of good includes execution and arranged marriages. Further principal players in the mystical land of Shangri-La include Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isobel Davis’s Princess Jasmine; Rory Queen’s dame, Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Death Of Gesualdo: The Gesualdo Six and Tableaux Vivants in tandem at NCEM, York
World premiere of the month: Death Of Gesualdo, The Gesualdo Six with Tableaux Vivants, National Centre for Early Music, York, January 18 and 19, 6.30pm
THE Gesualdo Six reunite with director Bill Barclay for this daring successor to international hit Secret Byrd. Featuring six singers, six actors and a puppet, Death Of Gesualdo creates living tableaux that illuminate the life and psyche of madrigalist Carlo Gesualdo, a tortured genius most famous for murdering his wife and her lover in an explosive fit of jealousy, but revered among composers for anticipating chromaticism by 200 years.
This is the boldest look yet at how the life and sometimes chilling music of this enigmatic prodigy must function together for the true Gesualdo to emerge from the shadows. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Grace Petrie: No time for panicking at The Crescent, York. Picture: Fraser West
Comedy-folk combination of the month: Little Wander and Say Owt present Grace Petrie, This Is No Time To Panic!, January 18, The Crescent, York, 7.30pm
DO you like protest songs? Neither does Grace Petrie – and she has been singing them for 15 “politically disastrous” years. No longer able to meet the desperate hopes of left-wing audiences, the “British folk scene’s funniest lesbian” reckons there is no better time for a feel-good show.
After making her stand-up debut in 2022 with Butch Ado About Nothing, she combines music and comedy for the first time in This Is No Time To Panic! “I know folk songs can’t save the world, and neither can stand-up, but both at the same time?” ponders Petrie. “Read it and weep, Putin!” Box office for returns only: thecrescentyork.com.
York Residents’ Festival: Weekend of experiences, attractions and offers
Festival launch of the month: York Residents’ Festival, January 31 and February 1
ORGANISED by Make It York, York Residents’ Festival offers residents free entry to York’s top attractions and exclusive offers on food, retail and unique experiences across the city in support of businesses and independent makers.
Thefull list of offers and pre-booking will go live from 12 noon on January 9 at visityork.org/resfest. Among them will be York Museums Trust providingfree entry to York Castle Museum, York Art Gallery and the Yorkshire Museum and the National Trust doing likewise to Treasurer’s House.
Self Esteem: Headlining Live At York Museum Gardens on July 10
Looking ahead to the summer: Futuresound Group presents Self Esteem at Live At York Museum Gardens, July 10, 5pm
SOUTH Yorkshire’s Self Esteem is the second headliner to be announced for Futuresound Group’s third summer of Live At York Museum Gardens concerts, in the wake of Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark, Heaven 17, China Crisis and Andrew Cushin being booked for July 9.
Rotherham-born Rebecca Lucy Taylor was part of Slow Club for a decade before turning solo as the sardonic Self Esteem, releasing the albums Compliments Please in 2019, Prioritise Pleasure in 2021 and A Complicated Woman last April. She will be supported by South African “future ghetto funk” pioneer Moonchild Sanelly and Sweden-based Nigerian spoken-word artist and musician Joshua Idehen, with more guests to be confirmed. Box office: futuresound.seetickets.com/event/self-esteem/york-museum-gardens/3555239.
