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The Â鶹Éç Symphony Orchestra & Â鶹Éç Singers conducted by Martyn Brabbins in Berio's Sinfonia. Plus Maderna's Oboe Concerto No.3 with Nicholas Daniel, and music by Nono and Dallapiccola.

Imagine a symphony that takes everything a symphony has been and everything a symphony could be: an orchestral showpiece that’s simultaneously a protest, a celebration, and a postmodern prank from the heart of 1960s counterculture. Berio’s Sinfonia is the climax to a day-long immersion in the music of postwar Italy.

But as we’ve heard, it’s just part of a far bigger – and even more gripping – story. Brilliant sonic adventures by Dallapiccola, by former Â鶹Éç Symphony Orchestra guest conductor Bruno Maderna, and by the far-left maverick Luigi Nono pave the way to Berio’s modern classic: outsize creative personalities who set out to remake the world, and left a legacy of music that continues to outrage, astonish and enchant.

Recorded at the Barbican Hall, London on 5th May 2024 as part of the Â鶹Éç Symphony Orchestra's Total Immersion Italian Radicals day.
Presented by Andrew McGregor

Luigi Dallapiccola: Three Questions With Two Answers
Luigi Nono: Canti de vita e amore*
Bruno Maderna: Oboe Concerto No. 3+

Interval: Andrew McGregor talks to Harriet Boyd-Bennett of the University of Nottingham and Jonathan Cross of the University of Oxford about the cultural, political and musical environment that produced these radical composers.

Luciano Berio: Sequenza 9c for bass clarinet solo**
Luciano Berio: Sinfonia ++

Anna Dennis (soprano)*
John Findon (tenor)*
Nicholas Daniel (oboe)+
Tom Lessels (bass clarinet) **
Â鶹Éç Singers++
Â鶹Éç Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins (conductor)