Catherine Anahid Berberian (July 4, 1925 – March 6,
1983) was an American mezzo-soprano and composer based in Italy. She
interpreted contemporary avant-garde music composed, among others, by Luciano
Berio, Bruno Maderna, John Cage, Henri Pousseur, Silvano Bussotti, Darius Milhaud, Roman
Haubenstock-Ramati, and Igor Stravinsky. She also interpreted works by Claudio
Monteverdi, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Kurt Weill, Philipp Zu Eulenburg, arrangements
of songs by The Beatles, and folk songs from several countries and cultures.
As a composer, she wrote Stripsody(1966),
in which she exploits her vocal technique using comic book sounds (onomatopoeia),
and Morsicat(h)y (1969), a composition for the keyboard (with the right
hand only) based on Morse code.
Cathy Berberian was born in Attleboro,
Massachusetts to Armenian parents, Yervant and Louise Berberian. The elder of
two children, she spent the first 12 years of her life in Attleboro, then the
family moved to New York City in 1937 where she graduated from Manhattan's
Julia Richman High School for Girls.
From an early age, she showed an interest in
Armenian folk music and dance as well as traditional opera. While still in high
school, she was the director and soloist of the Armenian Folk Group in New York
City. For a time, she was an undergraduate at New York University, but left to
take evening classes in theatre and music at Columbia University, working
during the day to support her studies.
She went on to study music in Paris with
Marya Freund in 1948, and in 1949 she went to Milan to study singing at the Milan
Conservatory with Giorgina del Vigo. In 1950, she received a Fulbright
scholarship to continue her studies there. Although she had appeared in several
student productions, radio broadcasts and informal concerts during the early
1950s, she made her formal debut in 1957 at Incontri Musicali, a contemporary
music festival in Naples.
The following year her performance of John Cage's Aria with Fontana Mix in its world
premiere, established her as a major exponent of contemporary vocal music. Her
American debut came in 1960 at the Tanglewood Music Festival where she
premiered Circles by the Italian composer Luciano Berio.
From 1950 to 1964 Berberian was married to
Luciano Berio, whom she met when they were students at the Milan Conservatory.
They had one daughter, Cristina Berio, born in 1953. Berberian became Berio's
muse and collaborator both during and after their marriage. He wrote, for her, Thema
(Omaggio a Joyce) (1958), Circles (1960), Visage (1961), Folk
Songs (1964–73), Sequenza III (1965), and Recital I
(for Cathy) (1972).
In 1967 Berberian took an artistic detour,
releasing a 12-track album (recorded in Paris) that consisted entirely of
quirky baroque-style cover versions of songs by The Beatles, entitled Beatles
Arias.
The instrumental backing was scored for a
classical string quartet or wind quintet plus harpsichord or organ. Most of the
tracks were arranged by Guy Boyer, and most of the songs featured him on
harpsichord. The original cover illustration for the album was by Gerald Scarfe.
The album was reissued on CD in 2005 with
bonus tracks including a 1975 French radio interview, and three live tracks
featuring Berberian performing songs from the album, recorded at French music
festivals in the early 1980s, with accompaniment by Italian composer–musician Bruno Canino and arrangements by
noted Dutch composer Louis Andriessen.
Sylvano Bussotti, John Cage, Hans Werner Henze, William Walton, Igor Stravinsky, and Anthony
Burgess also composed works for her voice. Although Berberian was based in
Milan from the time of her studies there, she taught at both Vancouver
University and the Rheinische Musikschule in Cologne during the
1970s. Following her death, Berio composed Requies: in memoriam Cathy
Berberian which premiered in Lausanne on March 26, 1984.
She
is mentioned in the Steely Dan song "Your Gold Teeth" from the 1973
album Countdown to Ecstasy:
"Even Cathy Berberian
knows / There's one roulade she can't sing."
Berberian was also a translator.
With Umberto Eco she translated into Italian works by Jules Feiffer and, with
other Italian translators, works by Woody Allen. Eco and Berberian worked
together in other projects too and he nicknamed her magnificathy. This
nickname with a different spelling chosen by Berberian herself: magnifiCathy
was later used as the title of one of her most well known albums.
TRACK LIST:
1. Ticket to ride;
2. I Want to hold your hand;
3. Michele;
4. Eleanor rigby;
5. Yellow submarine;
6. Here, there and everywhere;
7. Help;
8. You've got to hide your love away;
9. Yesterday;
10. Can't buy me love;
11. Girls;
12. A hard day's night;
Bônus:
13. Entretien;
14. Introduction;
15. Ticket to ride;
16. Yesterday;
17. Ticket to ride.
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