Cathy Berberian
Cathy Berberian ( born July 4, 1925 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, † March 6, 1983 in Rome) was an American mezzo-soprano and avant-garde composer. She is considered one of the most versatile singers of the history.
Life
Berberian was the daughter of Armenian immigrants to the United States of America.
She studied dance ( Indian dances and flamenco ), drama, mime, costume making and literature at Columbia University and New York University. In 1949 she studied thanks to a Fulbright scholarship singing in Paris with Marya Freund ( 1876-1966 ) and at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan. Her debut as a concert singer she was 1957. 1959 she first came to public attention when she sang in Rome John Cage Aria for Mezzo- Soprano with Fontana Mix, which he had written for her voice.
She married in 1950 the composer Luciano Berio, who composed many pieces for them, including Circles, Sequenza III, Visage and Récital. From the marriage, which ended in 1964, a daughter, the jazz drummer Cristina Berio went ( born November 1, 1953), out.
Work
Berberian was an amazingly versatile singer with a wide repertoire. Her voice had three octaves.
She sang mainly contemporary works by Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, Hans Werner Henze, Luigi Nono, John Cage, Bruno Maderna, Henri Pousseur, Sylvano Bussotti and Luciano Berio. The help of her acting and comedic talent she brought the audience closer to the modern music. Stravinsky wrote the Elegy for Kennedy for their vocal abilities.
In addition to their use for new music especially their interpretations of early baroque music, inter alia, by Claudio Monteverdi were known. With the conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, a pioneer of historical performance practice, they played two Monteverdi operas as well as some madrigals ( including the famous Lamento d' Arianna ) for a record.
Her repertoire also contained many works outside of classical music; so they often sang Armenian folk songs, toured successfully with salon songs, and even played a plate with Beatles songs a.
Berberian 's own compositions were avant-garde, witty attempts to define the new music. So she composed for example of the piece Stripsody (1966 ), which consists only of drawings and speech bubbles from comics. 1971 was followed by the piano piece Morsicat (h ) y and 1972 Awake and Read Joyce.