‘Sinfonia’ by Luciano Berio
The contemporary piece I’ve performed more than any other is Berio’s iconic orchestral masterpiece, Sinfonia (1968). I first encountered it as a set work for my music A’level and have since performed the piece over 70 times with orchestras around the world and made 2 commercial CD recordings of it. Berio scored it for orchestra and 8 amplified solo voices and its premiere was given by The Swingles and the New York Philharmonic. I’ve performed all four of the female vocal lines and had the privilege, in 2000, of performing it with Maestro Berio himself conducting.
Berio Sinfonia recording with Synergy Vocals and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Josep Pons
Winner of the BBC Music Magazine Award Vocal Category, 2017
Berio Sinfonia recording with The Swingle Singers and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic conducted by Peter Eotvos
An extraordinary video of this recording was created by Jaap Drupsteen. Watch excerpts below 👇
Berio ‘Sinfonia’
The Swingle Singers (1999) Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, conducted by Peter Eotvos
Video by Jaap Drupsteen
Performance log
ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop
Yale University Symphony conducted by William Boughton
The BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Semyon Bychkov
Orchestre de Paris conducted by Daniel Harding
The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas
Orchestra Filarmonica della Fenice, conducted by Nicola Marasco
The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Otto Tausk
The European Union Youth Orchestra, conducted by Vasily Petrenko
Wroclaw Philharmonic Symphony, conducted by Ed Spajnaard
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ilan Volkov
Orchestre Nationale de Lille, conducted by Matthias Bamert
BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Josep Pons
Koninklyk Conservatorium and Codarts Orchestra, conducted by Etienne Sieben
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, conducted by Semyon Bychkov
Orchestra Nacional de Espana, conducted by Josep Pons
Orchestre National de France, conducted by Lugo Metzmacher
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Orquesta Sinfonica de Estada, conducted by Lothar Koenigs
Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, conducted by Carlo Tenan
Orchestra Accademia di Santa Cecilia, conducted by Myung-Whun Chung
NDR Sinfonie Orchestra, conducted by Marcus Stenz
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, conducted by Luciano Berio
Filharmonikusok Orchestra, conducted by Peter Eotvos
Tonhalle Orchestra, conducted by David Zinman
Estonia Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paul Magi
American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein
Netherlands Radio Orchestra, conducted by Peter Eotvos
Prague Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Arturo Tamayo