Luciano Berio's Coro has been described as the work that 'exemplifies all the qualities that made him one of the leading composers of our time'. The work's full title is 'Coro for voices and instruments', and the 40 voices and 44 instrumentalists do indeed make up a single choir - instrumentalists and singers sit together, with each singer paired with a particular player, and used both as soloists and combined in mass effects. Composed in 1976, Coro is also a strikingly 'global' work: Berio's use of texts (mainly translations of folk poetry) attributed to peoples - 'Peruvian', 'Croatian', 'Sioux' - turns the work into a chorus of cultures. The texts are laid out in 31 separate sections of varying length, but the overall effect is cumulative, not episodic. The only named author is the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who became a powerful posthumous voice following his death in 1973 in the wake of General Pinochet's military coup. Along with other text fragments, his words 'Come and see the blood in the streets' keep returning during the course of the work, and the sense emerges of human individuals needing to be alerted to social and political developments demanding a collective response. Under it's artistic director Grete Pedersen the Norwegian Soloists' Choir has made acclaimed recordings of music ranging from Norwegian folk songs and Hildegard of Bingen to Bach, Brahms and Xenakis. Joined by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra it now takes on one of the major choral works of the past 50 years. The album closes with Berio's smaller scale Cries of London, performed by members of the choir.

Tracklist:

Coro: No. 1, Today Is Mine... Wake Up, Woman, Rise Up, Woman
Coro: No. 2, Venid A Ver
Coro: No. 3, Your Eyes Are Red
Coro: No. 4, Venid A Ver
Coro: No. 5, Your Eyes Are Red
Coro: No. 6, Venid A Ver La Sangre Por Las Calles
Coro: No. 7, Wake Up, Woman, Rise Up, Woman
Coro: No. 8, Venid A Ver La Sangre Por Las Calles
Coro: No. 9, I Have Made A Song
Coro: No. 10, Venid A Ver La Sangre Por Las Calles
Coro: No. 11, I Have Made A Song
Coro: No. 12, Venid A Ver La Sangre
Coro: No. 13, Wake Up, Woman, Rise Up, Qoman
Coro: No. 14, Venid A Ver La Sangre
Coro: No. 15, Komm In Meine Nähe
Coro: No. 16, Today Is Mine
Coro: No. 17, Pousse L'herbe Et Fleurit La Fleur
Coro: No. 18, Go, My Strong Charm... Venid A Ver
Coro: No. 19, It Is So Nice
Coro: No. 20, Your Eyes Are Red... El Día Pálido Se Asoma
Coro: No. 21, Mirad Mi Casa Muerta
Coro: No. 22, Je M'en Vais Où Ma Pensée S'en Va
Coro: No. 23, Pousse L'herbe Et Fleurit La Fleur
Coro: No. 24, Oh Issa... Ich Sehe Tautropfen... Your Eyes Are Red
Coro: No. 25, Oh Issa Lo In Alto... Komm In Meine Nähe
Coro: No. 26, Come Ascend The Ladder
Coro: No. 27, When We Came To This World
Coro: No. 28, El Día Oscila Rodeado
Coro: No. 29, Hinach Yafà Raayatí
Coro: No. 30, El Día Pálido Se Asoma
Coro: No. 31, Spin, Colours, Spin... El Día Pálido Se Asoma
Cries Of London (Version For 8 Voices): No. 1, These Are The Cries Of London Town
Cries Of London (Version For 8 Voices): No. 2, Where Are Ye Fair Maids That Have Need Of Our Trades
Cries Of London (Version For 8 Voices): No. 3, Garlic, Good Garlic
Cries Of London (Version For 8 Voices): No. 4, These Are The Cries Of London Town
Cries Of London (Version For 8 Voices): No. 5, These Are The Cries Of London Town
Cries Of London (Version For 8 Voices): No. 6, Money, Penny Come To Me
Cries Of London (Version For 8 Voices): No. 7, Cry Of Cries, Come Money To Me

UPC: 7318599923918
Label: Bis
Release Date: 3.6.20
Format: CD

Berio / Norwegian Soloists Choir - Coro (CD)