Around Luciano Berio, Radio France’s Présences festival brings French and Italian contemporary creators together. P. G. · Diapason, 1997.
Broadly initiated at Strasbourg’s Musica festival in 1995 and recently continued in Paris through Ensemble Intercontemporain and Festival d’Automne, showcasing Italian composers is the principal focus of Présences 97 at Maison de Radio France. Previous surveys of Chinese and Russian music have taught us, however, not to confuse an artistic school with shared passports.
Increasingly unsupported at home, where commissioning is almost nonexistent, Italians often seek recognition abroad that may enable a later return, as for Luciano Berio, heading the dynamic Tempo Reale research institute for ten years [the source places it in Milan].
Among about twenty Italians alongside the famous Sequenzas’ composer—eighteen of sixty-four works are Berio’s—we should seek individual accents, not a common language. For composers in their forties, Fedele, Francesconi, Dazzi and Stroppa, this will chiefly confirm their standing. For many whose first names are still unfamiliar—Nova, Borradori, Castaldi and Landuzzi—it will be total discovery. One reference nevertheless emerges among the young: Jacopo Baboni Schilingi.
The rest of the programme offers its customary picture of French contemporary music, turning the festival into a Franco-Italian encounter, particularly electroacoustically, with world premieres by Enrico Correggia and Philippe Mion. Other commissioned composers include Philippe Fénelon, Alain Bancquart, Francis Bayer, Philippe Hurel, Antoine Bonnet and Philippe Hersant, attesting to the pluralism of a festival where every listener embarks on an adventure among the concerts offered. [A few words of the closing line are unclear.]
Maison de la Radio, 7–27 February. Programme details in the magazine’s listings.