Die belgische Sopranistin Sarah Defrise bringt im November unter dem Titel “For Cathy” ein Tributealbum für die im gleichen Metier beheimatete Sängerin und Komponistin Cathy Berberian (1925-1983) heraus. Die Amerikanerin Berberian, die die meiste Zeit ihrer Karriere in Italien lebte, pflegte enge Kontakte zu zahlreichen Avantgarde-Komponisten des 20. Jahrhunderts und lieh ihren Mezzosopran Arbeiten von John Cage, Luciano Berio, Henri Pousseur, Sylvano Bussotti und vielen anderen. “For Cathy” enthält neue A Capella-Interpretationen dieser Werke, wobei sich bekanntere Stücke und rare Geheimtipps die Waage halten. Ebenfalls vertreten sind zwei Stücke aus dem Repertoire von Berberian eigenen Kompositionen. Das Album erscheint auf CD mit umfangreichem Booklet bei Sub Rosa.
“Cathy Berberian (July 4, 1925 – March 6, 1983) American mezzo-soprano and composer based in Italy. She worked closely with many contemporary avant-garde music composers, including Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna, John Cage, Henri Pousseur, Sylvano Bussotti, Darius Milhaud, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati and Igor Stravinsky. As a recital curator, she presented several vocal genres in a classical context, including arrangements of songs by The Beatles as well as 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.
[...] Belgian soprano Sarah Defrise has quickly established herself as one of the most fascinating young vocal artists enjoying close working relationships with a wide range of contemporary composers. A polymorphic artist, she is at ease in Lied, opera as well as contemporary performances including solo stand-up shows. She featured as a soloist on stages such as the Berlin Staatsoper, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, MÜPA in Budapest, NOF in Fribourg, the Opéra royal de Wallonie in Liège and la Monnaie / De Munt in Brussels.” (Sub Rosa)