Few twentieth-century creators have been as inventive as Berio in their relationship with the history of music, with popular and ancestral traditions, drawing material, as he did, from both Beatles hits and the soundscapes of street and market. Here Geoffroy Jourdain paints the portrait of an explorer with a passion for the human voice. Truculent and volcanic in Sequenza III (performed with panache by Lucile Richardot), lyrical and caressing in E si fussi pisci, solemn and spellbinding in Cries of London . . . Berio To Sing throws open the doors to a colourful universe, extravagantly playful and, in a word, exhilarating!
LUCIANO BERIO [1925-2003] · Sequenza III pour voix de femme (1966) (8'50) Cries of London pour huit voix (version de 1974-75 pour 6 voix révisée en 1976) · 1. These are the cries of London town (1'13) · 2. Where are ye fair maids (1'30) · 3. Garlic, good garlic (2'07) · 4. These are the cries of London town (1'05) · 5. These are the cries of London town (1'15) · 6. Money, penny come to me (3'11) · 7. Come (buy some old cry to me) [Cry of Cries] (3'29) · O King pour voix et cinq instruments (1968) (4'49) Folk Songs pour mezzo-soprano et sept instruments(1964) · Black is the colour (USA) (2'43) · I wonder as I wander (USA) (2'02) · Loosin yelav (Arménie) (2'32) · Rossignolet du bois (France) (2'04) · A la femminisca (Sicile) (1'24) · La donna ideale (Italie) (1'22) · Ballo (Italie) (1'45) · Motettu de tristura (Sardaigne) (3'03) · Malurous qu'o uno fenno (Auvergne) (0'59) · Lo Fiolaire (Auvergne) (2'36) · Azerbaijan Love Song (Azerbaïdjan & chanson soviétique) (2'37) · Michelle II pour mezzo-soprano et flûte, clarinette, harpe, violon, alto, violoncelle, contrebasse (Beatles Songs, 1965-67) (3'06) · There is no tune pour chœur de chambre (1994) (2'13) · E si fussi pisci chanson d'amour sicilienne, pour chœur mixte a cappella (2002) (1'57)
