Berio meets The Beatles
“He spoke no English, and I spoke no Italian. We had no contact but music”. But somehow that was enough for the American mezzo-soprano Cathy Berberian and her husband, the Italian composer Luciano Berio. Although the marriage ended in 1964, their creative partnership lasted until Berberian’s death in 1983. And she helped Berio find his own voice. Embarrassingly for a modernist, Berio couldn’t get over his love of Schubert, Monteverdi and (this being the 1960s) The Beatles. Few 20th century composers found greater delight in the toybox of western musical history.
Two pieces that Berio wrote for Berberian begin and end this concert. First comes Berio’s Sequenza III – one of fourteen works in which Berio explored the unaccompanied song of a range of solo instruments. In 1965, it was the turn of the human voice: Berberian’s, naturally. Berio described it as “a dramatic essay whose story, so to speak, is the relationship between the soloist and her own voice” and Markus Kutter provided the words:
Give me a few words for a woman
to sing a truth allowing us
to build a house without worrying before night comes.
We’re finishing with the exuberant Folk Songs from around the world that Berio arranged, re-arranged and in some cases completely invented for Berberian in 1964. “My links with folk song are often of an emotional character”, he said, and the words of the final song – transcribed from a badly damaged 78rpm record – are basically nonsense. The perfect love song for two artists whose common language was music rather than words.
In between, we follow Berio into his endlessly playful imagination. Opus Number Zoo, (1950) is exactly what the name suggests – a musical menagerie for wind quintet, composed (said Berio) “for an audience of young people”. The Sequenza VII for oboe (1969) attempts to do for the oboe of Heinz Holliger what the Sequenza III did for Berberian. The violin duets (1979), too, are a gesture of friendship. “It can happen that a violinist friend tells a composer, one night, that there are not enough violin duets today.” wrote Berio. “And it can happen that the composer immediately sets himself to writing duets that night until dawn…” And then, of course, there are The Beatles: Berio was a fan, and Paul McCartney was a fan of Berio too. They met briefly in New York in 1966 before a crowd of journalists pushed them apart. A year later, in Berio’s three Beatles Songs, Berio and McCartney finally came together, in art if not life. Though for Berio and Berberian, they were the same thing.
Dinis Sousa
Dinis Sousa is Music Director of Royal Northern Sinfonia, and Founder and Artistic Director of Orquestra XXI, an award-winning orchestra that brings together some of the finest young Portuguese musicians from around the world. He is the winner of the Critics’ Circle Young Talent (Conductor) Award for 2023.
With Royal Northern Sinfonia he led a complete Schumann symphony cycle in 2023/4, in addition to a performance of Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri which received a 5-star review from The Times. Other highlights have included a world premiere by Cassandra Miller, a UK tour, a return visit to the BBC Proms, and collaborations with soloists including Christian Tetzlaff, Steven Isserlis, Elisabeth Leonsksaja, Víkingur Ólafsson, Stephen Hough and Kristian Bezuidenhout.
Sousa’s work with the Monteverdi Choirs and Orchestras has earned him the highest critical acclaim, most recently for a complete Beethoven symphony cycle in London and at the Philharmonie de Paris in May 2024. Among many 5* reviews, Hugh Canning (Operalogue) described the cycle as “an unforgettable performance”. In 2023, he won widespread praise (and further 5* reviews) for Berlioz’s Les Troyens at the Salzburg Festival, Berlin Musikfest and the BBC Proms, with The Guardian noting that “Sousa was electrifying in moments of grandeur, high drama, and emotional intensity.” In the autumn of 2023, he also made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists in two programs of Bach and Handel.
His operatic experience includes Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, and in 2025 he leads a new production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte for Graz Opera.
With Orquestra XXI, recent highlights have included opening the Gulbenkian Foundation’s season, and a critically acclaimed tour of Mahler’s Symphony No 5 to celebrate the orchestra’s 10th anniversary. In recognition of his work with Orquestra XXI, he was awarded the title of Knight of the Order of Prince Henry in Portugal.
Sophia Burgos
Puerto Rican-American soprano Sophia Burgos has in recent seasons established herself internationally as a singer of outstanding intelligence, musicality and stage presence.
Highlights of the season 2024/25 included her house and role debut as Sabine in Battistelli’s 7 Minuti at Opéra de Lyon, the return to the US for a concert tour throughout the States and to Puerto Rico with Apollo’s Fire, concerts of Poulenc‘s Gloria with the Kansas City Orchestra, Vivier’s Lonely Child with the Esprit Orchestra in Toronto, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London as well as works by Alfano with Holst Sinfonietta in Milan and Turin. She concluded the season with her return to the Edinburgh International Festival for Taverner’s The Veil of the Temple with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Sofi Jeannin.
Most recently, she gave her house and role debuts as Pamina at Volksoper Wien and at De Vlaamse Opera as Mrs Naidoo in Philip Glass‘ Satyagraha. She returned to Opéra Nantes-Angers as Vercors in the world premiere of Philippe Leroux’s L’ Annonce faite à Marie and gave her debut at the Ruhrtriennale Festival in a staged production of Grisey’s Quatre Chants pour franchir le seul with Klangforum Wien.
A champion of new works, Ms. Burgos has premiered J.M. Staud‘s Once Anything Might Have Happened with Ensemble Intercontemporain and Matthias Pintscher in Paris, Gandolfi‘s Cantata: Where can I go from your spirit? with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andre Previn’s Two Lyric Songs: The Waking as part of the 75th year anniversary of the Tanglewood Music Center, the title role of Maria Republica by François Paris with Nantes-Angers Opera and Lily Briscoe in To The Lighthouse by Zesses Seglias at the Bregenzer Festspiele.
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Internationally renowned, calling Gateshead home.
37 musicians at the top of their game. Electrifying music, old and new. All the talent, determination, and creativity of the North East on a worldwide stage. From their home at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Royal Northern Sinfonia share the joy and wonder of orchestral music with thousands of people across the North of England – and beyond – every year.
From symphonies to string quartets, film soundtracks to choral masses, and original performances with awesome artists from Sheku Kanneh-Mason to Self Esteem, the orchestra’s members have got one of the most varied jobs there is. They’re always looking for fresh new sounds from up-and-coming composers, inviting local communities to share a stage, and doing everything they can to inspire and prepare the musicians of tomorrow to one day take their place.
They’re also working hard to smash the barriers that can stop brilliant people getting into classical music. They’ve teamed up with national partners to support women conductors to develop their careers, to help global majority musicians get vital experience in the orchestra world, and to celebrate disabled and non-disabled musicians breaking new ground together in inclusive ensemble RNS Moves. And they bring new musical opportunities to the region, headlining the first-ever BBC Proms weekend outside London.
Because they whole-heartedly believe orchestral music is for anyone – big cities and rural villages, tiny babies and life-long listeners, die-hard fans and curious minds – they travel far and wide to make sure there’s top-notch classical music on offer for anyone ready to say “I’ll give that a go”. You’ll find them in churches, castles, and community venues across the North, as well as leading the charge in Carlisle, Kendal, Middlesbrough, and Sunderland.
With 65 years of success to build on, they’ve signed a dynamic artistic leadership – Music Director Dinis Sousa, Artistic Partner Maria Włoszczowska, Principal Guest Conductor Nil Venditti and Associate Conductor Ellie Slorach – to lead the way into a bold, bright future.
Wherever the orchestra play and whoever they share a stage with, every performance is a chance to see, hear and feel the music.
