‘Composer or serial killer?’ was a popular game on the ABC’s Spicks and Specks show. Italian nobleman Carlo Gesualdo was both: a prolific composer who murdered his wife and her lover in cold / hot blood.

The acclaimed English consort, The Gesualdo Six, specialises in unaccompanied vocal music with repertoire that stretches from Renaissance times to the present day. Musically, Gesualdo was centuries ahead of his time, so his music is both a pinnacle of Renaissance music and a bridge to contemporary forms.

On this tour, The Gesualdo Six collaborated with the Melbourne-based Australian Boys Choir to present a joint program. The Choir opened the concert with an energetic and cohesive performance of two Australian works: Out There, an atmospheric piece by Dan Walker, and Dulcie Holland’s lively and ever-popular song, Sailing Time.

Owain Park, Josh Cooter and Simon Grant of The Gesualdo Six. Photo © Pat Charles

The Six made their entrance from the balcony with Purcell’s soul-searching hymn, Thou Knowest Lord The Secrets of Our Hearts. The whole church fell silent. They sustained the meditative mood with John Taverner’s Funeral Ikos and...