mike wrote:

>karen,
>
>     you'll be horrified to know that, of all the music i have played, from
>wagner to cage to george clinton, the berio 'sequenza' for voice is the only
>piece of music my mother made me turn off (and she was really mad too).

        I sympathize! It is very intense and I really counlt even rehearse
it for too long at one time. I took breaks from it because of the intensity
and the quick emotional changes. Recently I was rehearsing an intricate
piece  with shifting metric changes over repeated eighth-notes, and my
husband called this "the Advil" piece. I think it was more fun to do than
to listen to!
 

I had the opportunity to attend a performance by Cathy Berberian when I was a student at Queen's in the early 70's.  She performed Sequenza, Stripsody, Debussy, Monteverdi, Beatles and other repertoire in a fascinating program that was indeed a performance.  No just standing there and singing!!  To this day I remember the remarkable clarity of everything she spoke and sang.  It's a shame that so many singers are reluctant to approach the exciting music written by the more experimental composers of our time.  It seems that the majority of the singers who get to explore this wonderful rep. are in choirs.  I wonder what that says? ;o)

Cheers
Craig, Burnaby BC