Berio Archive
PUCCINI: Turandot (2016) – Orch. del Teatro alla Scala di Milano/Riccardo Chailly – Decca
Something’s different about this production. PUCCINI: Turandot (2016, Luciano Berio completion) Cast: Nina Stemme, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Maria Agresta , Coro di voci bianche dell’Accademia Teatro alla Scala Orch.: Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano Director: Riccardo Chailly Studio: Decca. Blue-ray [1/27/17] Run Time: 130 minutes Video: 1.77:1 Color Audio: DTS-HD 5.1, PCM Stereo Subtitles: English, German, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, French, Italian Rating: ***** What is the most outstanding feature of this recording of Giacomo Puccini’s opera Turandot? Is it the vividly recorded sound under the expert baton of conductor Riccardo Chailly? How about those well-miked singers, who manage to sound far better than they did in a recent Metropolitan Opera production of Turandot? Or the staging and lighting at Italy’s La Scala, so lush and regal as to be almost overwhelming (particularly when viewed on a 4K television)? Perhaps the excellent acting, judiciously understated as when Aleksandrs Antoninko didn’t grandstand during the famous “Nessun Dorma”? No, something’s different about this production. It’s the ending. They’ve changed it. When Puccini died in 1924, he left the opera incomplete. Two years later Franco Alfano penned a conclusion that, if you’re familiar with the opera, you’ve definitely heard it. Alfano was called in […]
BERIO: Sinfonia; MAHLER: Ten Early Songs – Goerne, bari./The Synergy Vocals/BBC Sym. Orch./Josep Pons – Harmonia mundi
A great way to reexamine Berio’s genius. LUCIANO BERIO: Sinfonia; GUSTAV MAHLER: Ten Early Songs – Matthias Goerne, bari./The Synergy Vocals/BBC Sym. Orch./Josep Pons – Harmonia mundi/PIAS HMC 902180, 61:11, (9/09/16) ****: The late 1950s and 1960s “new music” movement in Europe or what was the avant-garde of the time took off a little slower in Italy (not particularly known even today as a country that produces a lot of ‘contemporary classical’ music.) There are a lot of reasons for this but certainly to be included on the short list would be Luigi Dallapiccolo, Luigi Nono, composer-conductor Bruno Maderna and the present Luciano Berio; maybe the best and most renowned of the group. Berio had a unique talent and a style that was not embroiled in the twelve-tone serialism movement nor in the aleotoric “chance” music of the time. In fact, the very helpful and well-written program booklet notes by Jeremie Bigorie summarize nicely that Berio truly believed in “Down with Dogma!” Of his many works that earned an international performance life, the one that has survived and flourished to this day with several important recordings available is his Sinfonia for vocal ensemble and large orchestra. It is an iconoclastic […]
“Nature” = DAVID LANG: Breathless; LUCIANO BERIO: Ricorrenze; DENYS BOULIANE: “… A Certain Chinese Cyclopaedia…”; NAT EVANS: Music for Breathing – The City of Tomorrow – Ravello
Very refreshing collection of new quintet works!
* BERIO: Calmo; Quattro version originali della Ritirata Notturna di Madrid di L. Boccherini; Sinfonia – Virpi Raisanen, mezzo-sop./ Mirjam Solomon & Annika Fuhrmann, sop./ Jutta Seppinen, Pasi Hyokki, altos/ Simo Makinen, Paavo Hyokki, tenors/ Taavi Oramo, Sampo Haapaniemi, basses/ Finnish Radio Sym. Orch./ Hannu Lintu – Ondine
************* MULTICHANNEL DISC OF THE MONTH ************
A bona fide masterpiece is given a bona fide mastery reading.
“Horizon 4 – Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra” = New works by SHCHEDRIN, BERIO, JETHS & others for soloists & Royal Concertgebouw Orch. – RCO Live (2 discs)
A very eclectic and wonderful collection from one of the world’s great orchestras!
"Stories" = Works of BERIO; JOHN CAGE; JACKSON MAC LOW; ROGER MARSH; SHELDON FRANK; CATHY BERBERIAN – Theatre of Voices/ Paul Hillier – Harmonia mundi
Interesting, unusual, and often mesmerizing. But is any of it even music?
ARLENE SIERRA, Vol. 1 – var. performers – Bridge Insects and Paper Airplanes: Ch. Music of LAWRENCE DILLON = var. perf. – Bridge
Arlene Sierra may be on a hotter career track right now, but based on these two discs, Lawrence Dillon gets my vote for a recording that offers a second helping.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
