VocalEspoo: BERIO101: Berio and Sound

Performers: Linda Suolahti, violin and leader Mari Palo, soprano Ensemble Musequal: Annariina Jokela, viola Kati Raitinen, cello Aida Salakka, double bass Marianne Sihvonen, flute Helmi Malmgren, clarinet Jan Salminen, oboe Katri Tikka, harp Valtteri Saarola, trumpet Tuija-Maija Nurminen, percussion Petteri Kippo, percussion Kirill Kozlovski, harpsichord and piano What connects Kaija Saariaho, a Benedictine nun, an Azerbaijani love song, Bach's solo violin suites, Martin Luther King, and the Beatles? Who else but Luciano Berio! In the strict modernist circles of the 1960s, it might have been considered outrageous to dig Schubert, Monteverdi, Purcell, and the Beatles, but it is exactly this broad scope that makes Berio and his sound so endlessly fascinating. The first note of the concert is the orchestra's tuning note, the middle A (A4), but played with a massive, granite-like sound in fortississimo. It seems to struggle its way out, trying out different pitches around it, until it finds its pair in the B above it. It engages in a struggle or pendulum motion with this note throughout the piece, as if searching for something. Thus begins Berio's Sequenza VIII for solo violin. From here begins a true journey of the stream of consciousness. There is no shortage of surprising twists as we jump from 16th-century Italy to the music of the Beatles, and from there to Kaija Saariaho's mystical, abstract atmospheres describing the structure of clouds. According to Berio's life philosophy, the past, present, and future constantly comment on each other – and one should not fear collisions, but rather take joy in them! The pieces in the Berio and Sound concert balance between tragedy, humor, heartbreaking beauty, weird turns, and rich timbres – all feelings existing in perfect harmony. Permission to laugh, permission to be moved, permission to disapprove, permission to find it strange. In collaboration with: Kokonainen ry & VocalEspoo Duration: Approx. 2 h, incl. intermission.