Repertoire: Berio's Sinfonia--Still Astonishing Some Fifty Years On
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- Опубликовано: 15 июн 2020
- One of the great masterpieces of the twentieth-century avant-garde, Luciano Berio's Sinfonia has been recorded quite a few times, perhaps surprisingly given its logistical challenges (a large orchestra with eight vocal soloists). I'll tell you which versions are the best.
I'm a Berio freak and I have three recordings of his Sinfonia--Chailly, Boulez and Eötvos, in order of purchase. I too enjoy the Chailly version the most. I got to see it live in Madrid around 2008, with the New Swingle Singers. They were performing versions of songs by the Beatles, but I went for the Sinfonia. It was great. So much intensity and tension in that third movement, and then the fourth movement was mesmerising. In another record of works conducted by Berio himself and with Cathy Berberian (RCA), you get Recital I for Cathy, the Folk Songs and three Kurt Weill songs translated to English or French and arranged by Berio. A wonderful CD, with the Recital borrowing samples from the likes of Monteverdi, Falla, Bizet and many others.
I just realised -- the scherzo of Mahler's second uses the tune of "Des Antonius von Padua fischpredigt", about fish who listen to Antonius' preachings but don't pick up on anything. So by playing it under a history of Western music Berio may state how humanity has literally listened throughout the ages without learning anything. Perhaps obvious to some, but a small revelation to me.
Happy 1000 subscribers! you are doing a great job for the love of music.
I recently have discovered this sinfonia and i am obsessed. I was skeptical since i heared some stuff from berio before when i was bit unprepered, but i was pleasently surprised and amazed every time i listen to it.
Dear David. Thanks so much for championing this piece, although as you say it scarcely needs it and in the last couple of weeks we see it is hardly dated!
I had the Swingle Singers version but I can't remember the conductor and orchestra. But it was very good. It really is genius that he could create such a complex tapestry in the 3rd movement and it comes off so well. Entertaining! Of course the 5th movement is not included but I did hear it in SF. I LOVED IT! The SF audience was just appalling! I was in maybe the 10th row and stood and cheered and applauded like a seal! I turned and saw people with their feet up on the chair in front of them. I was shocked how badly SF behaved. So I continued to applaud until I was the only one. The Singers came over and bowed TO ME!!! I was ecstatic!. !!!!
Chailly is also my favorite of this wonderfully crazy work, though I also like Pons. Sometime it would be interesting to have a discussion of Berio’s orchestral transcriptions, especially Rendering.
Love this post with 20 century avantgard and luciano berio. Thank you.
Thank you for highlighting such a fabulous piece of music which more often than not is overlooked by skeptic audiences who associate Berio with some unattainable language. This is different. Berio always preferred curiosity and challenge to arrogance, at least his music tells me so. This is music so easy to like if people listen to it with inquisitive ears and minds!
DAVID, thank you again for endorsing my choice!!! Two years ago I have bought Hannu Lintu on eclassical in HR and I am still enjoying that unreservedly.
Bought the Berio recording when it came out. The University music students were all over it. Still love that performance, despite not being complete. Still have the LP and can anticipate every vocal phrase. For complete performance, the Chailly is the one for me.
I got to know it through the Chailly recording, which I have and love. But all the same, hearing the recording conducted by Berio himself some years later was a revelation - a massive amount of detail which had previously gone unnoticed suddenly revealed itself to me and pin-sharp, too.
Berio conducting his 5 movement Sinfonia has been recorded in concert in Amsterdam in 1997, with the that time swingle singers ! It's issued in a RCO LIVE edition / Anthology if the Royal Concertgenbouw Orchestra and it is a gorgeous recording ! Keep interest in live recordings ! :)
This is a remarkable piece, and not all that challenging to listen to these days. I recently watched a video of the Chicago orchestra (Boulez) in a 1995 performance in Tokyo (which included the fifth movement), and I couldn't help but notice the very straightforward way Maestro Boulez directed the orchestra. His technique was straight out of a beginners textbook on conducting. No chance of getting lost or confused. I thought he did an outstanding job. I don't think the piece calls for a great variety of emotional levels, but keeping the beat is paramount if the musicians are expected to synchronize their playing and end at the same time.
I wore out the grooves of my Berio/NYP/Swingle Singers record when it first came out and it has remained a favorite since then. And this may present a problem...
Had this on a cassette copied from a friend's copied cassette with zero information on it. That was in pre- or early internet days. In any case, the music was so ellocuent and powerful I didn't feel the urge to look for any paratext. Gather now from your coment about the preeminence given to the male soloist that it must have been the Boulez' recoding ("Thank you Mr. Boulez", duh!). But what strikes me is I was never quite sure whether the scherzo from Mahler's 2nd. in that deeply moving movement was actually performed live or played from a tape amd given some sort of live electornic treatment! Will try to move beyond the aural attachment to that version and listen to Chailly's or Berio's own.
I was so looking forward to hearing Sinfonia with the Oregon Symphony and Roomful of Teeth -- the pandemic kicked in and now I wonder if I will ever hear it live
I need to listen to this music without reading the score for a change. I think, following music, while looking at the score, sometimes takes away from the experience of just enjoying the music.
thank you mr. Hurwitz for a great video! I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on Simon Rattles interpretation of the piece, either the 1987 version with CBSO which is on youtube or the 2020 performance with the BerlinPhil available on their digital concert hall.
Thanks for making the case for Sinfonia. I heard it in Oakland, California in the 70s, with Gerhard Samuel and the Swingle Singers. Very memorable. What surprises me is that there doesn't appear to be a recording by Leonard Bernstein, or am I wrong about that? Berio, after all, dedicated it to him and the New York Philharmonic. Did Bernstein not care for the piece? Is there a story there?