麻豆社

Kate Molleson explores the extraordinary relationship between Berio and the singer Cathy Berberian.

To celebrate the centenary of his birth, Kate Molleson explores the life and music of one of most influential figures in all of modern music 鈥� Luciano Berio. Berio鈥檚 music is lyrical and expressive, while never ignoring the most advanced techniques and technologies of his time. He worked with many key figures in 20th Century music while always following his own, very individual path, both through life and in his music, where he constantly pushed at and broke the boundaries he encountered. During this week, Kate looks in more depth at some of these limits: the boundaries he was conditioned to recognise in his youth, the boundaries and possibilities of the human voice, the boundaries of other people, the boundary of Europe鈥檚 cultural scene, and the boundaries of the musical past and the musical future.

In Tuesday鈥檚 programme, Kate explores the extraordinary relationship between Berio and one of the great artists of 20th Century music 鈥� the American/Armenian singer Cathy Berberian. Berberian transformed the way in which Berio and other composers wrote for the voice, and challenged the limits of what was possible for a singer. Berio became Berberian鈥檚 piano accompanist in the late 1940s and soon afterwards they were married despite not speaking each other鈥檚 languages. The pair went on to have an incredibly productive creative partnership, even after their divorce in the 1960s. We鈥檒l hear a piece banned from Italian airwaves for being too suggestive, and Berio鈥檚 famous vocal Sequenza, written for Berberian. Plus, we鈥檒l discover how Paul McCartney met Berio and inspired music Berio crafted for Berberian to sing at the Venice biennale in 1967.

Canzonetta for piano 4 hands
Andrea Lucchesini, Valentina Pagni Lucchesini, piano

Sequenza III
Cathy Berberian, singer

Chamber Music No 1 鈥淪trings in the Earth and Air鈥�
Christine Schadeberg, singer
Musicians鈥� Accord

Visage
Cathy Berberian, singer
Luciano Berio, electroacoustic montage

Beatles Songs - 鈥淵esterday鈥�
Sophia Burgos, singer
Sinfonieorchester Basel
Ivor Bolton, conductor

Requies
Prague Modern
Pascal Gallois, conductor

Produced by Sam Phillips for 麻豆社 Audio Wales & West