Dorothea Brinkmann

When it was clear that Luciano was appointed to the Charles Eliot Norton Chair and that he would be honorary professor for one year at the Harvard Music Department, it was a great joy for Reinhold Brinkmann, my husband. Berio was one of his preferred contemporary composers, and the two of them had a wonderful time together the high point of which for Reinhold, and also for me, was Luciano’s dedication of his piano Sonata to him. A wonderful friendship developed over the years, which unfortunately found its sudden end, when Luciano died. In the meantime Reinhold also passed away, and both men are in my warmest memory. I cannot think enough of how it would have been had both of them lived longer. I treasure the thoughts of exchange at work as well as of gorgeous hours of good food. Luciano certainly was a wonderful person in our lives. So was his wife Talia.

Dorothea Brinkmann

Reinhold Brinkmann and Luciano Berio at the annual picknick of the Harvard Music Department, May 1994. (Private archives D. Brinkmann and T. Pecker Berio, by courtesy).