The boundary of Europe

Kate Molleson explores the years after Berio moved to the United States of America, and married his second wife – Susan Oyama.

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 – Luciano Berio. Berio’s 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’s cultural scene, and the boundaries of the musical past and the musical future.

Today, Kate Molleson explores the years after Berio moved to the United States of America, and married his second wife – Susan Oyama. We’ll discover how Berio the teacher also founded an internationally revered ensemble, find Berio reconnecting with his political roots after he was assaulted by a gang of fascists in Rome and hear his most famous work – Sinfonia – in full. Kate will also explain why despite moving to a new country with a new wife, Berio spent most of this time commuting and living out of hotels.

Sequenza V
Alain Trudel, trombone

Laborintus II (excerpt)
Mike Patton, vocalist
Ictus
Georges-Elie Octors, conductor

Folk Songs – La donne ideale; Malurous qu’o uno fenno
Cathy Berberian, singer
Juilliard Ensemble

Sinfonia
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
London Voices
Péter Eötvös, conductor

Produced by Sam Phillips for BBC Audio Wales & West