Prometheus Ensemble olv. Etienne Siebens

From Monteverdi to the Beatles. For the Italian composer Luciano Berio (1925-2003) it seemed obvious. He was a great innovator of twentieth-century music and never approached his work in a dogmatic fashion. His oeuvre has points of contact with popular and non-academic styles of music. At the end of the 60s, he increasingly wrote commentaries on the works of others; this he did in the form of arrangements. In 1966 he wrote a commentary on Monteverdi's 'Combattimento' (1638), in an arrangement for three violas, cello, double bass and harpsichord. The most masterfully dramatic madrigal, 'Combattimento' is based on an episode from Tasso's epic 'Il Gerusalemme liberata'. Berio coloured Monteverdi's gripping story about murder and love with a dark and modern temperament. Berio was married to the soprano Cathy Berberian from 1950 to 1966, and she was an artist who was highly competent at handling a variety of styles. She interpreted with equal skill the works of Monteverdi, Weill and Cage. Berio wrote a few masterpieces especially for her, arranging more than three songs by Kurt Weill. The result was a beautiful effect that underlined the erotic cabaret atmosphere. Songs by the Beatles were also arranged for her. Cathy Berberian made 'Yesterday' sound 'like Joan Baez in the class of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf'.