ricerca e pubblicazioni

Following the publication of Luciano Berio’s writings in 2013, a selection of his major interviews is now issued for the first time by Einaudi, Torino. The new volume Luciano Berio. Interviste e colloqui, edited by Vincenzina C. Ottomano with an introduction by Paul Griffiths, features over fifty conversations, interviews and inquiries held with Berio over a period ranging from the early 1960’s up till a few months prior to his death in 2003. The texts, accompanied by editorial notes and comments, offer a multiple perspective on the composer’s life and work in an idiom that is at once approachable by a large spectrum of readers and surprisingly new for those who are familiar with his theoretical writings. The constant interaction of questions and answers encourages a spontaneous and immediate mode of communicating thoughts and issues that are central to Berio’s world view and poetics, such as music theatre, language, oral tradition and music history, electronic and computer-assisted composition, musical education. The portrait of a composer emerges who is deeply (and often critically) involved in the contemporary scene, convinced of the role of music and of the musician in the formation of a better society.

For the index click here:
For the volume tab click here:

Handwritten answers by Luciano Berio to the «Proust Questionnaire», 1990 (by courtesy of Paul Sacher Stiftung and Berio heirs). See Luciano Berio. Interviste e colloqui, pp. 459-464.

We are pleased to announce the release of the volume Le théâtre musical de Luciano Berio for the publishing house L'Harmattan, Paris. The two-volumes publication includes the proceedings of the project «Luciano Berio’s musical theatre», which took place between 2010 and 2013 in Paris and Venice on the initiative of D.M.C.E. (Dramaturgie Musicale Contemporaine en Europe), University of Paris VIII in collaboration with Centro Studi Luciano Berio and Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice.
The two volumes, edited by Giordano Ferrari, explore and analyse chronologically Luciano Berio’s six major works of musical theatre (in the first volume, Passaggio, Opera and La Vera Storia; in the second one, Un re in ascolto, Outis and Cronaca del Luogo). Each section, dedicated to a single work, is featured by a documentary text that offers a general overview of the sources, the structure, the history of the performance and the state of research on the composition; and it’s followed by essays that explore in-depth Berio’s theatrical world on different perspectives: musical analysis, dramaturgy and scenic space, the relationship with the tradition, and Berio’s collaboration both with the authors of the texts and with all other persons involved in the productions.

For the index of the vol. I «De Passaggio à La Vera Storia» click here.
For the index of the vol. I «De Un re in ascolto à Cronaca del Luogo» click here.
To order the volumes click here.

Following years of preparation and increasing expectation, the first collection of Luciano Berio's writings: Scritti sulla musica has finally issued by Einaudi, Torino, edited by Angela Ida De Benedictis and with an Introduction by Giorgio Pestelli. The volume features nearly 90 texts, some but not all of them previously published, covering the period 1952 - 2003, accompanied by editorial notes and comments (see the index attached in pdf). The anthology, organized in four broad sections, includes lectures, essays and articles varying in scope and subject matter, program notes, encyclopaedia entries, recollections and tributes to friends and fellow artists, as well as profiles of musicians, painters and writers who made their mark on Berio's creative career. The topics range from his own music to the compositions of others, his experience in the Studio elettronico and in music theatre, from rock to folk music, and so on. Altogether these texts accompany the reader through the vast range of Berio's interests and the human and artistic involvement that characterised the reflections of one of the most outstanding composers of our time.
For the table of contents click here.
For an interview with Angela Ida De Benedictis click here.

Una polifonia di suoni e di immagini
As from June 19 2013 the boxed set containing the historic television series C’è musica & musica, devised in 1972 by Luciano Berio for the RAI, with Vittoria Ottolenghi as curator and Gianfranco Mingozzi as producer, will finally be on sale in bookshops. Published in Feltrinelli’s Real Cinema series, in collaboration with Rai-Trade and the Centro Studi Luciano Berio, the boxed set (curated by Angela Ida De Benedictis) contains the whole series – 12 programmes in colour – plus a volume with contributions from Umberto Eco, Michele dall’Ongaro, Ulrich Mosch, texts by Luciano Berio dating back to the period of the broadcasts, the transcription of all the programmes effected by Federica Di Gasbarro and a selection of documents. The publication is presented on September 13 2013 in Imperia by Mila De Santis, and at the MiTo Festival on September 16 in Milan by Umberto Eco, Michele dall'Ongaro, Talia Pecker Berio and others (for information on this event click here).

The box can also be ordered on line.
For more documents, see the section Read more.

The volume Luciano Berio. New Perspectives has been published by Leo S. Olschki (Florence). The book, edited by Angela Ida De Benedictis, contains the proceedings of the International Conference held in Siena from 28 to 31 October 2008 at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana. The introductory addresses by Umberto Eco, Giorgio Pestelli, Jean-Jacques Nattiez and Edoardo Sanguineti are followed by two further sections: the substantial «Studies and contributions», devoted to specific topics concerning Berio’s output, and «Closing reflections» (for the general outline of the book, see the pdf in attachment). The papers, written in Italian or in English, feature new methodologies and interpretative perspectives; they prompt reflection on specific philological, analytical and aesthetic issues and also on the very concept of “music” that characterised one of the foremost protagonists of the twentieth century.
To purchase the volume with a 15% discount, click here.
Two presentations of the book were scheduled in September: 1) September 11 at 11 a.m. (Sede degli Amici del Loggione del Teatro alla Scala), in the frame of the MiTo Festival, with the participation of Angela Ida De Benedictis, Talia Pecker Berio, Giorgio Pestelli, Veniero Rizzardi and Enzo Restagno; 2) September 29 (10 a.m.), Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, with the participation of Gianmario Borio, Mario Messinis and Paolo Pinamonti (this meeting followed the study day dedicated to Un re in ascolto on September 28.

The CSLB has joined the “Pegaso” project for an inter-regional PhD in History of the Performing Arts, promoted and financed by Regione Toscana. This three-year project, originated in a collaboration between the universities of Florence, Siena and Pisa, will get under way in 2013.