Thrilling. Also invigorating, moving, amusing. This eclectic survey of just a small sample of Luciano Berio’s unique creative output was all of those things. Hall 2 of The Glasshouse was, I guess, roughly half full – quite a turnout for what is after all some very challenging music, and in the face of stiff competition from elsewhere in the city. Mainly this was an audience of devotees or the curious (though there were a few exits in the first ten minutes) and concentration did not seem to falter, even after what became nearly an hour and three quarters sans interval of concentrated music making.
The Royal Northern Sinfonia Music Director Dinis Sousa, wearing a striking shirt which could have come from the pages of Vogue in 1968, gave a witty and detailed introduction to the music. More than anything though, he communicated his enormous enthusiasm for Berio’s work which was clearly shared by the players – a selection of the RNS’ finest. ‘Berio meets The Beatles’ was of course a loss-leader of a title for a concert which had very little to do with The Beatles and a great deal to do with Berio. The composer’s Baroque noodling set around classic Beatles numbers (Michelle, Yesterday, Ticket to Ride) was probably the least successful selection of the evening, despite the assured instrumental playing and the quasi-idiomatic textures adopted by soprano Sophia Burgos.
Burgos had earlier expertly referenced Cathy Berberian’s iconic performance of Sequenza lll (The Sequenze are a series of pieces for solo instruments with the objective of exploring the utmost limits of their expressive possibilities) and remained focused throughout the duration of this ground-breaking piece. If it is somewhat over-written and slightly too long it is nonetheless the closest Berio ever had to a hit and it was great to hear it so confidently resurrected.
There was a curious early piece, Opus Number Zoo, about animals involving the players in spoken dialogue in addition to playing. Some players took to it like natural thesps and some clearly struggled – overall much of the dialogue was lost by the time it reached my seat, though I’m not sure that mattered very much. Iona Brown and Jane Nossek carved their way with visceral energy – and also great tenderness – through selections from the Duos for Two Violins and Melanie Rothman in Sequenza Vll did things with the oboe (accompanied by a mysterious drone from “somewhere in the building” as Sousa put it) I would not have considered possible had I not witnessed them myself.
Man of the Match award has to go though to Will Duerden, shortly to be joining RNS as Principal Double Bass, in the apocalyptic Sequenza XlV. Utilising as it seemed every inch of the instrument’s surface he gave a powerfully rhythmic and utterly riveting account of the work, greatly assisted by discreet and skilful amplification. To round off, Berio’s touching, eclectic Folk Songs, entertaining, amusing but often heartbreakingly beautiful, were unobtrusively directed by Sousa as Burgos charmed and captivated with the folk melodies of a bygone Europe.
