“Joseph Puglia…proves once again that “modern” music is not a priori dry and unapproachable, but can also be fiery and emotional. Highly recommended!”
– T. Derks Cultureel Pers Bureau 07/16
“One can hear throughout that Joseph has a great affinity with the music of Berio.”
– De Volkskrant
“A Spectacular Escape!!”
– Opus Klassiek CD review
“Mindblowing”
– Luister Magazine CD review (10/10)
My first experiences listening to Luciano Berio’s music were a revelation. Each piece sounded so personal and expressive. And each was so varied in expression, that had I not known, I would have guessed they were written by many different composers. Berio’s violin Sequenza was a personal challenge for me, but also opened the door to many other 20th and 21st century composers whose music I have grown to love.
The Berio Project, consists of teaching and performance workshops of Berio’s Duetti for two violins, which I performed with students, amateurs, and professionals at conservatories and festivals throughout Europe and the US.
Berio writes about the Duetti:
Some…can be played by beginners, others…by more advanced pupils, together with their teachers…. If the Duets are performed in front of an audience, it is preferable to involve a large number of players of different age and proficiency.
The types of playing one hears from beginners on child-sized violins are essential to the sound of these pieces. And the most interesting performances of the Duets are as Berio himself suggested: with many different violinists of all ages and all levels. What emerges is a miniature society in the concert hall, with many personalities on stage and supportive friends and parents in the audience. All coming together to share this wonderful music.
Along with the workshops, I made a CD recording and a research project with special “bonus” recordings of his Duets for two violins, which I re-recorded in order to find the same variety in interpretation which we find in Berio’s own compositional styles.
I hope to inspire audiences and young musicians to appreciate Berio’s music with the same intensity that I do. I hope that audiences will be intrigued, just as I was, to look deeper into the music of this great composer, and also of his contemporaries and successors.