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Luciano Berio: Sinfonia; Eindrücke
Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Ward Swingle
Luciano Berio: Sinfonia; Eindrücke
Genres: Pop, Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (6) - Disc #1

Berio's most celebrated opus is what a friend describes 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 fascinati...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Ward Swingle, Swingle Singers, Orchestre National de France
Title: Luciano Berio: Sinfonia; Eindrücke
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Erato
Release Date: 4/28/1992
Genres: Pop, Classical
Styles: Vocal Pop, Historical Periods, Modern, 20th, & 21st Century, Symphonies
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 022924522826

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Berio's most celebrated opus is what a friend describes 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. Pierre Boulez conducts. --Joshua Cody
 

CD Reviews

Fantastic
Prescott Cunningham Moore | 04/05/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Luciano Berio was commissioned to write a work for the New York Philharmonic's 150th anniversary. What resulted was the Sinfonia, a masterpiece of the twentieth century musical movement. This work combines many of the Italian composers fascinations - from Mahler to Martin Luther King - and sympathizes them. The result is fascinating, stimulating, and thoroughly enjoyable. Boulez's interpretation is really top-notch. He leads the orchestra with great power, gusto, and energy. This vision is evident, especially in the third moment of the piece. Berio here takes the Scherzo from Mahler's second symphony and "pastes" in other famous musical phrases from Debussy, Ravel, Beethoven, Schoenberg and others as well as adding voices, which sustain a dialog throughout the entire movement. Boulez's intellectual approach to music is appreciated here - the result is a crisp, definitive reading of this powerful twentieth century masterpiece."
Boulez vs. Bernstein Redux
W. Heyser | 12/05/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)

"While I do agree that the Bernstein recording of Berio's masterwork is the better performance of the two, Boulez brings a nouance to his conducting that I think can only come from the fact that the piece had aged somewhat by the time he was conducting it. The piece might be viewed as less topical by that time, but Boulez manages to make it speak to a new audience with the same force that it had the first time it was performed. I personally feel that it is just as meaningful now as ever, regardless of who performs it, but Boulez definitely makes it feel avant garde, even after so much time has passed.

Leaving all the qualitative discussion aside, this recording is available while Bernstein's is not (unless you happen to be lucky enough to know someone with the LP), and this recording includes the additional fifth movement while Bernstein's does not. I agree that Bernstein's should be made available no matter what one might think about its quality, but this recording is at least equally deserving of a listen. I do not agree with the previous reviewer that the sound quality is lacking, so even if one loves the other recording, one should be able to buy this one as well without worrying about getting a badly-produced recording."
Ricardo Chailly and the Concertgebouw
W. Heyser | 06/22/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a fan of this great piece and haven't heard the (out of print) recording by Ricardo Chailly and the Concertgebouw -- buy it used, now: Polygram Records, #425832. It has all of the clarity and insight of this Boulez performance, but it also has great big dollops of humor, passion, wonder, mystery, etc.; it lets go. It also includes Berio's late orchestral masterpiece, "Formazione", as well as the chamber orchestra version of the "Folksongs" wonderfully sung by Jard Van Nes. The greatest Berio CD -- program, performance -- I know of."