***** A masterful and gripping vocal-instrumental work inspired by the music and life of Gesualdo.

NAVARRO-ALONSO In Flagrante Delicto.  Paul Hillier, cond; Ensemble Strato; Theatre of Voices  OUR RECORDINGS 8.226933 (65:03)
Danish-Spanish composer Peter Navarro-Alonso was born in 1973, commencing studies at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid and upon receiving his degree there, continued continued them in the Soloist Class at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. Since his graduation, he has received numerous commissions from ensembles, orchestras, choruses, and opera companies, including the Danish National Opera, the Copenhagen Philharmonic, and the Danish National Vocal Ensemble, among others.
Lasting more than an hour, In Flagrante Delicto must be considered a major work, although it is scored for small forces comprising an instrumental quartet and a vocal quintet. The piece was commissioned by the violinist of Ensemble Strato, Christina Åstrand, who is joined by her colleagues, oboist Radi Åstrand Radev, cellist Therese Åstrand Radev, and pianist Per Salo. In flagrante delicto, as its composer puts it, “embarks on a journey into a sick and darkened mind heading toward dissolution and decay.” The title and inspiration of the work comes from the avant-gardist of his day Carlo Gesualo coming upon his wife in bed with another man in flagrante delicto, leading him to murder both her and her lover. Composers can be quirky, to be sure, but seldom (as far as I am aware) do they commit such an act, despite the cries of “bloody murder” by critics of most of the great innovators throughout music history. Innovator though he may have been, however, Gesualdo has nothing on Navarro-Alonso, as the present work demonstrates from its outset.
The work is divided into five movements, with the fifth itself containing five sections. First heard is “Moro, lasso,” based on Gesualdo’s well-known madrigal from his Sixth Book. Like its progenitor, Navarro-Alonso’s work opens darkly with isolated pitches, in this case, played on the piano, as he wordlessly expresses in music the gist of the poem that examines grief leading to death. At around the three-minute mark, the singers enter almost imperceptibly with near tone clusters as they sing the actual text of the poem. The effect is truly mesmerizing, and leaves the auditor with a sense that time has almost ceased flowing. I also find the interweaving of the various instrumental lines masterfully accomplished as this composer combines elements from some of the composers (especially the French Spectralists) that he cites into his very personal compositional voice. Just before the eight-minute mark, both singers and instrumentalists break out into a fortissimo passage that produces an aural equivalent to the sun coming out after a period of unrelenting cloudiness. The latter portion of this movement features much use of seemingly aleatoric figuration in the upper registers of piano and violin.
The second movement, “Beltà, poi che t’assenti,” employs the eponymous madrigal (also drawn from that same harmonically adventurous Book) in more overt fashion, but this is heard only after an introduction consisting of quite unrecognizable sounds from the instruments. The composer explains his approach to the use of the madrigals in the above interview. After the entrance of the vocal ensemble, the madrigal is embellished by the instrumental quartet in the most ear-intriguing ways to produce a sound quite unlike that of any other composer I’ve heard. Following these opening two movements are two others, apparently based to a greater or lesser degree on actual madrigals of Gesualdo, the first, “Che sì picciol pianto,” opening in rather amusing pointillistic fashion, while the second is initiated with a surprisingly tonal, considering what has preceded it, piano part over which the voices sing equally tonal overlapping parts. This fourth movement also closes with a dolorous and extended a capella section.
The last movement is labeled PART TWO, and eschews the use of any of Gesualdo’s music, but does set a text that he employed. Its five sections are designated only by tempo markings. “Energico” begins in a forceful and moderately dissonant manner in the instruments that keeps the two string instruments in their upper registers, not quite an octave apart (I hear some microtonal intervals here) until the voices enter equally powerfully. These final sections are quite tonally obscure until the last one: “Tranquillo” features a beautiful soprano solo, some Messiaen-like harmonies, and a moving fading away into nothingness, serving to close the work in a breath-taking manner.
Peter Navarro-Alonso writes arresting and innovative music that will surely secure him a prominent place in the pantheon of composers of our time. His powerful and gripping work has made quite a profound impression on me, as I’m sure it will on many other listeners. The performers, both instrumentalists and vocalists, are true virtuosos and masters of their art, and together they provide a musical experience that will reverberate in the memory of the listener for quite some time. My highest recommendation attends this release.