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everything you need to know about
Luciano Berio Luciano Berio
A central member of the Darmstadt circle who went on to write some of the most moving and beautiful music of the post-war era, combining music, theatre and language in a highly individual way.
Listen [in RealAudio] need audio help? Basic Details
Listen Sequenza III
Cathy Berberian (Philips 426 662-2)

Listen Sinfonia (3rd movt)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Chailly, and Electric Phoenix (Decca 425 832-2)
 Born: 1925
Died: 2003

Milan

Opera once was an important social instrument — especially in Italy. With Rossini and Verdi people were listening to opera together and having the same catharsis with the same story, the same moral dilemmas. They were holding hands in the darkness. That has gone. Now perhaps they are holding hands watching television.


Luciano Berio, in an interview for the Observer (1989)
See Also [closely related to this]
within bbc.co.uk music:
Berio biography
Berio discography
Classical news, reviews and listings
Profiles A-Z listing
elsewhere on bbc.co.uk:
A Quick History of Opera
elsewhere on the web:
Berio on Universal Edition
Berio's publisher, with clips and scores
Berio on The Modern Word
Exploring musical words based on James Joyce
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.

LUCIANO BERIO IN ONE MINUTE
  • His grandfather was an organist and composer, and his father a cinema pianist, accompanist for dance bands and church organist.
  • He was a gifted pianist but an accident to his right hand during military service turned him towards composition.
  • His most influential works were the "Sequenzas", short exceptionally virtuosic solo pieces with a dramatic element.
  • His first wife, American-Armenian soprano Cathy Berberian, was the inspiration for many of his works including "Circles" and "Sequenza III".
  • Already interested in electronic music, he became involved with Boulez and Stockhausen at Darmstadt in 1954.
  • He used music by composers as diverse as Monteverdi and Kurt Weill as creative starting points.
  • His best-known work Sinfonia is based on the Scherzo of Mahler's 2nd Symphony.
  • Between 1971 and 2000 his music featured almost every year at the Proms.
Suggestions? [different angles on this]
related by time:
Pierre Boulez Biography
Karlheinz Stockhausen Biography
related by location:
Bruno Maderna biography
Luigi Dallapiccola biography
related by genre:
A Quick Guide to Classical Music
Classical Music Homepage
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.
Luciano Berio
GOOD RECORDINGS
 A GOOD READ

Orchestral MusicOrchestral Music
French National Orchestra/Boulez
MusiFrance 2292452282
Sinfonia and Eindrucke.

Cathy Berberian sings Berio and WeillCathy Berberian sings Berio
London Sinfonietta
Gold Seal 09026625402
Recital I and Folk Songs.

Miscellaneous WorksMiscellaneous Works
Cathy Berberian et al
Wergo WER 60212
Sequenza III and Circles.

Un re in ascoltoUn re in ascolto
Vienna Phil/Maazel
Col legno WWE2CD20005
A remarkable and moving stage work.
Luciano Berio: Two InterviewsLuciano Berio: Two Interviews
(Marion Boyars Publishers)
With Rossanna Dalmonte and Bálint András Varga.


Ashgate Publishing logoPlaying on Words
by David Osmond-Smith
(Ashgate Publishing Ltd)
An in-depth guide to Berio's Sinfonia.

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