Death for Five Voices (1995)

Death for Five Voices (1995)
"Tod für fünf Stimmen" (original title)
TV Movie
59 min
Documentary

Director: Werner Herzog
Writer: Werner Herzog
Stars: Pasquale D'Onofrio, Salvatore Catorano, Angelo Carrabs

Country: Germany
Language: German | Italian | English

Carlo Gesualdo, (Venosa, 8 March 1560 – Gesualdo, 8 September 1613)  also known as Gesualdo da Venosa (Gesualdo from Venosa), Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, was an Italian nobleman, lutenist, composer, alchemist and murderer. Its quite amazing that how a single man can hold all these conflicting titles. The life of this man, Carlo Gesualdo, is therefore a heterogeneous mixture of myths and facts. Werner Herzog made this documentary for ZDF Television in 1995 by coalescing both myths and facts- just as his life.
Documentary starts with the ruining cursed castle of Don Gesualdo where he spent his last years. Since Gesualdo is notorious for the cold blood murdering of his wife Donna Maria,her lover Fabrizio Carafa, the Duke of Andria and his second son by Maria he is presented mostly as a demonic figure. Through out the documentary he is capturing the very usual elements and with rapid cuts Gesualdo is conjuring through his experimental music, the mad people who stealthy visits his castle and music scholars.
 Herzog intentionally fabricates so many things which appears to be very natural, simply because he is telling the story if Gesualdo. For example: In the second half he presents an insane lady in the castle who says "I am Maria d'Avalos"; but its a fabricated one to create a mythical platform inside the documentary.
Carlo Gesualdo is considered as a prominent figure in music, particularly in madrigals. He made his most famous compositions of madrigals (Six Books of Madrigals) in between 1594 and 1611 ie, after the murder. Gesualdo is really a dangerous artist; he is still influencing a lot of minds in an unsafe way.