Book Three of Gesualdo’s Madrigals was published in 1595 and marked a strong change in his style. Rejecting leading poets of the time, Gesualdo preferred to set little known or indeed anonymous writers in order to evoke pathos and huge drama. This is now music of uncompromising directness and intensity, calling on the resources of dissonance and contrast, and using texts for their full expressive potential. Both previous issues in this series have received high accolades, the first, for example [8.570548], being full of “expression, style, heartfelt pulse, and imagination” (American Record Guide).