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Kate Molleson explores Luciano Berio’s youth in the turbulent environment of Benito Mussolini’s Italy.

To celebrate the centenary of his birth, Kate Molleson explores the life and music of one of most influential figures in all of modern music – Luciano Berio. Berio’s music is lyrical and expressive, while never ignoring the most advanced techniques and technologies of his time. He worked with many key figures in 20th Century music while always following his own, very individual path, both through life and in his music, where he constantly pushed at and broke the boundaries he encountered. During this week, Kate looks in more depth at some of these limits: the boundaries he was conditioned to recognise in his youth, the boundaries and possibilities of the human voice, the boundaries of other people, the boundary of Europe’s cultural scene, and the boundaries of the musical past and the musical future.

In Monday’s episode, Kate Molleson explores Luciano Berio’s youth in the turbulent environment of Benito Mussolini’s Italy. He was surrounded by music with both his father and grandfather being musicians and we’ll learn about an early pivotal encounter with the music of Puccini. We’ll pay a visit to the barracks where Berio’s promising potential career as a pianist ended, and discover how Berio came to rebel against his fascist upbringing. His rejection of the politics of his country and family, and the limits the regime had placed on his cultural exposure led to a trauma which he said needed an 'exorcism' to get over.

Folk Songs - Ballo
Cathy Berberian, singer
Julliard Ensemble
Luciano Berio, conductor

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mixed media tape and flute

Petite Suite
Matteo Bevilacqua, piano

Coro (excerpt)
WDR Sinfonieorchester Cologne
Cologne Radio Chorus
Herbert Schernus, conductor

Sequenza IV
Florent Boffard, piano

Produced by Sam Phillips for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Audio Wales & West