events

May 27 marked the tenth anniversary of Luciano Berio’s passing. The anniversary is being celebrated throughout 2013 with numerous events and concerts featuring his music worldwide. Our Centro Studi chose to pay homage to Berio the man and the artist by creating a new section in the website, Per Luciano, containing a wealth of testimonials, unpublished documents and images which friends, colleagues and long-standing collaborators have been kind enough to contribute to commemorate this anniversary.

The Biennale di Venezia pays homage to Berio with two monographic concerts (October 5 and 11); on October 5 Roberto Abbado conducts the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna in Rendering and Epiphanies, with the soprano Valentina Coladonato (the concert will be broadcasted live on RAI Radio 3); on October 8, Christophe Desjardins performs Sequenza VI for solo viola; on October 11 is scheduled the performance of Ofaním with the musicians of the Orchestra della Toscana, the voices of the Maitrise de Radio France and the Israelian singer Esti Kenan Ofri directed by Danilo Grassi, and Altra voce with Monica Bacelli and Michele Marasco. The live electronics of both works is realized by Tempo Reale which, on 12 ottobre presents a monographic concert in Florence with Altra voce, Linea, Momenti and Thema (Omaggio a Joyce).
On 17 ottobre is scheduled in Florence a concert with Ofaním, featuring the same performers in Venice, this time directed by Marco Angius, and Rendering, in the preview evening of the Play-it! Festival.
On October 30 Daniele Rustioni conducts the Orchestra della Toscana in Otto Romanze by Verdi-Berio, with the tenor Antonio Corianò.
O King and Naturale will be performed in Berlin on September 30 and October 12.

Following the tribute to Cathy Berberian on the thirtieth anniversary of her death, the Centro Studi Luciano Berio wishes to honour another major figure in the world of 20th century music, the ethnomusicologist Roberto Leydi, who died ten years ago. Hailed by Berio as his "initiator" in the universe of folk music, the friendship and collaboration with Leydi were fundamental for the composer, above all in the years of fervour and intense research in post-war Milan, which also saw the participation of a third artistic and companion and close friend, Bruno Maderna (to whom our Centre will soon pay due tribute). When called on to recall his ethnomusicologist friend following his decease, Berio wrote: «I have always known Roberto Leydi, even before I actually met him during the fifties, when we were working with Jacques Lecoq on Mimusique. Tre modi per sopportare la vita, or again with Bruno Maderna on Ritratto di città in the fledgling Studio di Fonologia della RAI in Milan. I have always known him because a part of me - I’m not sure which - seems to have been born and to have grown up with him ». Among the collaborations involving Berio and Leydi we should also mention Questo vuol dire che..., composed in 1968-69 for the Premio Italia using creative and performative modalities which at the time were truly new.

Umberto Eco, Roberto Leydi and Luciano Berio. Bologna, 1995 (photo by Nicola Scaldaferri, by courtesy).

On 6 March 2013 it will be 30 years since the death of Cathy Berberian, Luciano Berio’s first wife and unique artistic partner. Her remarkably versatile voice inspired the creation of a number of Berio’s works including Thema (Omaggio a Joyce), Circles, Sequenza III, Folk Songs, Recital for Cathy and others in which creative research and performing verve are indelibly combined.

To commemorate this extraordinary woman and performer we have put on our website a previously unpublished photograph of her, generously made available by Cristina Berio, and an interview entitled Mi piace provocare il pubblico which featured in March 1972 in the magazine «Radiocorriere» catering for viewers of RAI television. The article presented the programme «Mille e una voce», the fifth installment in the television series C'è musica e musica, produced in 1972 by Luciano Berio. This whole installment was dedicated to Cathy Berberian and her matchless gifts as an interpreter, illustrated by Berio himself in a program which stands as a genuine "journey inside the human voice".

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of Luciano Berio's death, Divertimento Ensemble in collaboration with Museo del Novecento, Milan, pays homage to the composer with the project Per Luciano Berio inaugurated on January 20 and lasting till June 2013. The cycle – presented on January 17 in a press conference at Palazzo Marino, Milan – features a series of concerts, lectures and an exhibition. The soloists of Divertimento Ensemble will perform the complete Sequenzas in seven concerts; six young pianists selected by a Call for young performers will perform Berio's works for piano at the end of a series of masterclasses with the pianist Mariagrazia Bellocchio. The Backstage del pensiero creativo will take place in the museum with two lectures focused on the Sequenzas (Vincenzina Ottomano, Jan 30) and on Berio's piano works (Angela Carone, March 13). The museum's hall hosts a video installation dedicated to Luciano Berio, with screening of documentaries, photos, interviews, and scores selected by the Centro Studi Luciano Berio from the composer's archives and from those of Teatro all a Scala and Universal Edition. The museum hosts dome of the sound machines that were reconstructed to match the original electronic devices in use in the 1950's at the Studio di Fonologia of the Milan radio RAI. Berio's entire production of electronic music will be presented in two concerts at the Museo degli Strumenti Musicali at Castello Sforzesco. (March 16 and April 13), both introduced by Angela Ida De Benedictis.

The project is in collaboration with the Festival MITO.

The 2013 concert season around the world is particularly rich of outstanding events featuring Luciano Berio's music (for the full program see the Concert Calendar). The following is a selection of performances scheduled for the first trimester of the new year.

The Casa da Música in Porto commemorates the tenth anniversary of the composer’s death with an «Omaggio a Berio» consisting of nine concerts scheduled between January and October 2013. The cycle is inaugurated on January 18 with a performance of Quatre dédicaces by the Symphonic Orquestra do Porto conducted by Christoph Konig. On January 19 Lisa Milne and the Remix Ensemble Casa da Música conducted by Peter Rundel will perform Recital for Cathy. For the full program of this rich Omaggio see the attached pdf.

The Divertimento Ensemble in collaboration with the Museo del Novecento, Milan, honors Berio with an exhibition, a series of concerts, masterclasses and two lectures scheduled between January and June 2013. The concerts will feature the performance of the complete series of Sequenzas and works for piano. The whole production of Berio's electronic music will be performed in two concerts in the frame of Museo degli Strumenti Musicali at Castello Sforzesco, Milan. For the full program, click here.

The Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, conducted by Dima Slobodeniouk, devotes to Berio a monographic concert on February 1st. The program includes Eindrücke, Requies and Sinfonia with the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart.

The 2013 concert season around the world features many outstanding events with Luciano Berio's music (for the full program see the Concert Calendar). The following is a selection of performances scheduled from April to June 2013.

On April 8, 10 and 12 the Filarmonica della Scala and the Swingle Singers, conducted by Ingo Metzmacher, will perform Sinfonia (Teatro alla Scala, Milano). The concert on April 8 is broadcast live at 8 p.m. on Rai Radio Tre.

The Casa da Música in Porto commemorates the tenth anniversary of the composer’s death with an «Omaggio a Berio» consisting of nine concerts scheduled between January and October 2013. The Remix Ensemble Casa da Música will perform 'points on the curve to find...' (April 26) with pianist Jonathan Ayerst, and Tempi concertati (April 28), both under the direction of Jonathan Stockhammer. On the same evening, the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto, conducted by Lothar Zagrosek, performs Sinfonia with Theatre of Voices. Paul Hiller will conduct the Coro Casa da Música in Cries of London (April 27) and E si fussi pisci (April 28). For the full program of this rich Omaggio see the attached pdf.

The 76th Festival Maggio Musicale Fiorentino celebrates Luciano Berio with three concerts: on May 11 Zubin Mehta will conduct the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Quattro versioni originali della Ritirata Notturna di Madrid di L. Boccherini and SOLO, with the renowned Swedish trombonist Christian Lindberg. May 28 is the "Berio Day" with two concerts in the Piccolo Teatro: the vocal ensemble L’Homme Armé, conducted by Fabio Lombardo, will perform A-Ronne; the program features also Visage, with sound projection by Francesco Canavese and Francesco Giomi (Centro Tempo Reale, Florence); following, Giuseppe La Malfa conducts the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Folk Songs and Siete canciones populares españolas (De Falla-Berio), with mezzo-soprano Anna Malavasi.

On May 15 and 16 at the Cité de la Musique, Paris, are scheduled two concerts with Berio's music. Alexander Liebreich conducts the Münchener Kammerorchester in Rendering (May 15); Michel Tabachnik conducts the Brussels Philharmonic and Synergy Vocals in Sinfonia (May 16).

The Ravenna Festival 2013 will host an Omaggio a Berio : on June 19, Danilo Grassi will conduct the Nextime Ensemble, with partecipation of Tempo Reale, l'Homme Armé, Monica Bacelli and Marco Cavalcoli (speaker) in Calmo, Cries of London, Laborintus II e Naturale (Teatro Alighieri).