“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)
The CD consists of Berio’s Sequenza VIII for violin, Corale (based on the Sequenza), for solo violin, strings, and two horns, Due Pezzi for violin and piano, and the 34 Duets for two violins. It was released in the 2015/2016 season on the Attacca label’s “Letter of Escape” series.
Berio writes about the violin Duets:
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.1
The types of playing one hears from beginners on child-sized violins are an integral part of these pieces, and they deserved to be recorded with this in mind. Therefore, I chose to record the 34 Duets as Berio himself suggested: with many different violinists of all ages, students, colleagues, friends, and former teachers.
I recorded the Due Pezzi with my friend Ellen Corver, who has been a source of musical inspiration to me for many years. The Corale has been recorded on unwound gut strings with Johannes Leertouwer’s Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht. The NPU gave me my first public performing experience on gut strings. Although the Corale does not specifically call for gut, Johannes and I think it offers an interesting and wider array of colors to this piece. Berio himself was interested in exploring new sounds, and since the solo violin part is almost an exact copy of the Sequenza, we believe our performance of the Corale pushes the limits of color and possibility in a different way than is done in the Sequenza recording.
The CD is available at Attacca Productions or Bol.com.
1 Preface to the Duetti per due violini (1979-1983), UE 17757, Universal Edition, Wien, 1982