•
Rating:
In the works of Luciano Berio, the title is often misleading: it suggests a part of the musical structure but not the whole, it is allusive, and leaves behind many possibilities unsaid. Take "Coro", composed in 1976 and reworked the following year: there are 40 voices in the ensemble, but each of them is paired with an instrument, and the two form a couple. Thus, it is a non-traditional choir, even in its arrangement: not orchestra in front and choir behind, as usually happens on stage, but a podium with steps of different heights so that all singers and instrumentalists can be seen in a live performance.
They are paired according to register affinities; for example, sopranos are next to flutes, violins, and oboes (high register instruments) to create "territories" in the mass of performers: the territory of the sopranos, that of the tenors, and so on. Therefore, as always in Berio's music, the sound palette is not only very rich but also very refined. This is perceptible at a first listen even in "Coro", 52 minutes long, which begins calmly with a duet between alto and piano where the same melody is repeated several times. But after a few minutes, other voices are added, first female then male, and the instruments, so the piece gains more density and thickness.
"Coro" uses texts of popular origin in some of its sections, and texts by the poet Pablo Neruda in others; these sections alternate and only towards the end of the piece are they brought together. Berio defined this piece as a "ballad": having an inter-national character, it uses five languages: Italian, French, English, Hebrew, German.
The fragmented mass of 40 voices often becomes part of the orchestral sound, and there are frequent passages of great sonic excitement from both the orchestra and the choir. Dense and complex musical materials alternate with simpler ones, the timbres mix with each other, they are never pure. It is not easy music, this one, which requires a certain commitment to listen to: but Berio knew how to handle sounds, and "Coro" is nothing less than one of the many demonstrations of his very high musical ability.
Tracklist
Loading comments slowly
