Gesualdo - Death for Five Voices
A Film by Werner Herzog
Il Complesso Barocco/Alan Curtis
Gesualdo Consort of London/Gerald Place
PCM Stereo
Picture Format: 16:9
Region Code 0 - Worldwide.
ARTHAUS MUSIK DVD 109208 [60:00]
This film is a production from 1995, and a previous DVD release
was reviewed on MusicWeb International in 2007. Tim Perry was decidedly unimpressed
by Werner Herzog’s work, and reviews to be found elsewhere show this
to be something of a Marmite creation – people seem either to love or
hate it. As far as I can tell this re-release is not much more than a repackaging
of the original, and there are no significant extras.
It should be remembered that this was made as a TV documentary rather than
a cinema film, and one in which there is plenty of space for imagination and
suspension of disbelief rather than a straightforward telling of Gesualdo’s
story on location. The locations are as much characters in this film as are
the figures who appear, especially in the ruined castle: a chameleon that
can represent the decay of Gesualdo’s mental state or the blasted terrain
of his violent past – the power of his musical legacy contrasting with
the transience of material things.
One can tie oneself up in knots looking too for this kind of symbolism, and
in the end you can let such things lie and just enjoy the authentic and odd
characters who bring life to episodes in Gesualdo’s life – the
extravagance of his wedding banquet commented on by a surreal couple of chefs,
and his demonic nature and eccentric behaviour talked about by employees at
his palace in Naples and elsewhere.
The musical performances are filmed with simple informality like little rehearsal
sessions, but set in gorgeous Italian interiors that suit the atmosphere of
the whole. The actual recordings are decent enough though won’t be the
raison d’être for acquiring this film – it is not a music DVD
in that sense. With a mixture of imaginative artifice, an occasional fragment
of academic lecturing and quite a bit of more or less relevant meandering,
it is easy to give way to frustration while watching, but if you can relax
your expectations with regard to convention there is a great deal to enjoy
and appreciate in Gesualdo, Death for Five Voices. This certainly
adds dimensions to Gesualdo that you wouldn’t gain just from reading
about him. Werner Herzog has to a certain extent adopted Gesualdo’s
own radical nature in creating a picture with no clear single line of narrative.
We are guided into unusual and surprising avenues and compartments in ways
that remind me a little of the milder aspects of Mauricio Kagel’s Ludwig
van. Relics take on special significance, long distant events become
food for the imagination, and mythology and speculation take on their own
legends and traditions.
I’m glad to have seen Gesualdo, Death for Five Voices. It’s
not a great work of art but it is an intriguing documentary and certainly
one that invites and inspires further exploration into this unique composer’s
remarkable life and music.
Dominy Clements
Previous review (original release):
Tim Perry
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