Luciano Berio: Sequenzas / Ensemble Intercontemporain (1999)

Among the many types of compositions in which Berio excelled, his solo outings, entitled Sequenzas, are perhaps his most famous. He began the composition of the Sequenzas in 1958 with Sequenza I for flute and ended with Sequenza XIV for violoncello in 2002, completed a year prior to the composer’s death at 77. Each 'Sequenza' is a virtuosic tour-de-force for its instrument—a study in the different ways of producing sounds with the instrument, and in the slight differences in pitch when a single note is produced with several different fingerings. Berio's writing is, of course, unconventional, feeding off serialism and making complexity sound friendly. Yet Berio envisions these works as suggestive of polyphony in their architecture and impact, which is to say that the aggressive juxtapositions within a solo work fool the ear into believing that the soloist is a small ensemble. The melodies get multiplied, from initial statements into transfigurations and harmonic variations, making the pieces at once tremendously complex and demanding but also totally inviting. Pierre Boulez' Ensemble InterContemporain are the ideal exponents for this music, committed together and separately to music which makes great demands of both players and listeners.

Tracklist

CD 1
1 Sequenza I for Flute (1958) 6:02
2 Sequenza II for Harp (1963) 8:18
3 Sequenza III for Woman's Voice (1965) 8:16
4 Sequenza IV for Piano (1966) 11:06
5 Sequenza V for Trombone (1965) 6:58
6 Sequenza VI for Viola (1967) 12:13

CD 2
1 Sequenza VII for Oboe (1969) 6:54
2 Sequenza VIII for Violin (1976) 12:57
3 Sequenza IXa for Clarinet (1980) 13:33
4 Sequenza X for Trumpet in C and Piano Resonance (1984) 14:03

CD 3
1 Sequenza XI for Guitar (1987-88) 15:19
2 Sequenza XII for Bassoon (1995) 18:31
3 Sequenza XIII for Accordion "Chanson" (1995) 8:15
4 Sequenza IXb for Alto Saxophone (1981) 14:19

Ensemble InterContemporain:

Teodoro Anzellotti (Accordion)
Florent Boffard (Piano)
Frédérique Cambreling (Harp)
Gabriele Cassone (Trumpet)
Luisa Castellani (Soprano)
Sophie Cherrier (Flute)
Jeanne-Marie Conquer (Violin)
Alain Damiens (Clarinet)
Christophe Desjardins (Viola)
Eliot Fisk (Guitar)
Pascal Gallois (Bassoon)
László Hadady (Oboe)
Benny Sluchin (Trombone)
Christian Wirth (Alto Saxophone)

Deutsche Grammophon: DG 457038-2