Murder in the Dark: light, shadow, movement and music illuminate the Passion of Christ.

St George’s Cathedral Consort/Joseph Nolan
directed by James Berlyn
Lighting by Benjamin Bergery
Winthrop Hall, Perth, February 12 

Say the name Carlo Gesualdo, and music lovers are more likely to picture an unhinged Italian nobleman flagellated by his servants as self-imposed penance for murdering his wife and her lover, than to hum a tune from one of his madrigals. The Renaissance composer’s harmonic language is daring, searingly expressive, and at times heart-wrenchingly dissonant: the guy was clearly in touch with his emotions.

This dark Prince of Venosa is famous for his lovelorn madrigals (happy Valentine’s Day, by the way), but his sacred music – by turns uplifting and haunting – is rarely performed. Kudos to Perth International Arts Festival, then, for commissioning Tenebrae et Lux (Darkness and Light), a synergy of music, movement and lighting that illustrates Gesualdo’s Tenebrae Responsories with a “series of tableaux vivants…bathed in light rhythms” staged by Paris-based media artist Benjamin Bergery and directed by James Berlyn.

The Latin Tenebrae Responsories, which tell the story of the Passion of Christ, are traditionally performed in a church setting with candles gradually snuffed out until...