Luciano Berio: Sinfonia / Eindrüke (1992)

Berio's most celebrated opus can be better described as a "kitchen-sink work:" the Italian composer, in a display of exuberance and virtuosity, seems to have synthesized all of his disparate preoccupations and fascinations―Samuel Beckett, Martin Luther King, Mahler, the anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss―into an intensely personal orchestral fantasia. The result, which the composer describes as "perhaps my most experimental work," is ultimately joyous.

Berio was a characteristic 20th-century composer in that he did not repeat himself; each piece called for new sounds and embodied his developing aesthetic. Sinfonia (1968), an extraordinary composition written for eight singers (the Swingle Singers) and orchestra, is a vast collage of words and sounds, reflecting the complexity and disorder of modern life. Parts of it sound as though several radio programs were being played simultaneously. Underlying everything, a distorted but recognizable performance of the third movement of Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony can be heard. In addition, there are words from a Samuel Beckett play, student slogans from contemporary confrontations, and fleeting references to a score of other composers ranging from J. S. Bach to Stockhausen. The piece is a Joycean bringing-together of everything in a time-destroying present. In spite of its unconventionality and complexity, the first performance was highly successful.

Tracklist

Sinfonia
for eight voices and orestra
1. Sinfonia for Eight Voices and Orchestra: I
2. Sinfonia for Eight Voices and Orchestra: II - O King
3. Sinfonia for Eight Voices and Orchestra: III - In ruhig fliessender Bewegung
4. Sinfonia for Eight Voices and Orchestra: IV
5. Sinfonia for Eight Voices and Orchestra: V

Eindrüke
6. Eindruke

Régis Pasquier, violin
New Swingle Singers
Orchestre National de France
Pierre Boulez

Erato 88151


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