This was a wonderful concert and a lovely way for me and Janie to chill at the end of the weekend.
When I first saw The Gesualdo Six, coincidentally six years ago, I described them as the hottest boy band in the early music vocal consort world
But now, having heard them and seen them some more, I realise that The Gesualdo Six are now beyond boy band. They are to 15th/16th century Chansons de Regretz what Taylor Swift is to the 21st century heartbreak song.
Further, the Ges-Ges Boys, much like Tay-Tay, are mastering the art of social media management. When Owain Park announced from the stage that “you can find us on TikTok”, I wondered:
- whether he was joking,
- how many members of the Wigmore hall audience understood what he meant by TikTok,
- was I the only person in the Hall (other than the Ges-Ges Crew) who had a TikTok account.
I can’t be sure about the answer to the second and third question, but I can confirm that Owain Park wasn’t joking.
They are also very good at merchandising. On my 2018 visit Owain tempted me to buy a pre-release version of their first album – English Motets (which includes the track embedded above from TikTok, as it happens). This time he persuaded me to be among the first to buy Queen Of Hearts, the latest album.
To be honest, I don’t really need much persuading and I can confirm that the Gesualdo Six recordings are excellent.
The Gesualdo team themselves staffed the merchandise and payment gadgets during the interval, chatting kindly (and at some cases at length) with the patrons who queued up to buy the recordings. I believe they did that all again at the end of the gig.
I wondered to myself whether Taylor Swift was doing this at her Wembley Stadium concerts – I have heard that she engages with her audience like no other. Possibly Tay-Tay is still there at Wembley, selling, signing and chatting.
So what did we hear at The Gesualdo Six gig, I hear you cry. Here is the stub from the Wigmore Hall website posting for this concert.
Almost all the stuff we heard was from this new Queen of Hearts album. Did I mention that it is available from The Gesualdo Six website – click here. We are loving listening to the albums. I also bought Josquin’s Legacy to add to my collection.
Before the interval we heard:
- Antoine Brumel (c.1450-1512) Sub tuum praesidium (pub. 1520)
- Josquin des Prez (c.1450-1521) O virgo prudentissima
- Loyset Compère (c.1445-1518) Plaine d’ennuy/Anima mea
- Antoine Brumel Sicut Lilium
- Jean Mouton (c.1459-1522) Ave Maria … virgo serena (pub. c.1520)
- Johannes Prioris (fl. c.1485-1512) Dulcis amica Dei (pub. 1508)
- Owain Park (b.1993) Prière pour Marie (2023)
- Jean Lhéritier (c.1480-1551) Sub tuum presidium a6
After the interval:
- Josquin des Prez Petite camusette (pub. 1545)
- Antoine de Févin (c.1470-1511) Fors seulement (pub. c.1515)
- Jean Mouton De tous regretz
- Anon Se je souspire/Ecce iterum attributed to Margaret of
- Austria
- Costanzo Festa (c.1485-1545) Quis dabit oculis (1514)
- Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade (b.1989) Plaisir n’ai plus Commissioned by The Gesualdo Six (2023)
- Johannes Prioris Consommo la vita mia
- Nicolas Gombert (c.1495-1560) Tous les regretz (pub. 1544)
Below is a video of them singing Josquin’s O Virgo Prudentissima – one of the pieces we heard.
This group is the real deal. Janie and I floated home after the concert.