Berio Mahler
Sinfonia, Frühe Lieder
Matthias Goerne b,  Synergy Vocals, BBC Symphony Orchestra/Josep Pons
Harmonia Mundi  HMC9022180

“I studied at the Schola Cantorum in Montserrat where I heard Mahler’s music for the first time. Straight after, friends gave me the symphonies, conducted by Bernard Haitink. That was the soundtrack to my life.” Josep Pons

Read our review here.

German music filtered through an Italian glass

Mention the Italian composer Luciano Berio and I immediately think of the human voice, and of one voice in particular – that of his first wife, Cathy Berberian. Expressive, beguiling and one-of-a-kind, Berberian was a vocal chameleon; at home in a range of styles from Monteverdi to pop, and of course the perfect vehicle for Berio’s eclectic creations.

One of the better known of these creations is Berio’s five-movement Sinfonia from 1968. Having left behind his interest in serialism, Berio revels in an artistic freedom that heralds Postmodernism....