1. Catherine Anahid Berberian was an American mezzo-soprano and composer based in Italy.
11 Facts About Cathy Berberian
1. 2.
Cathy Berberian worked closely with many contemporary avant-garde music composers, including Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna, John Cage, Henri Pousseur, Sylvano Bussotti, Darius Milhaud, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati, and Igor Stravinsky.
3.
Cathy Berberian interpreted works by Claudio Monteverdi, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Kurt Weill, Philipp zu Eulenburg and others.
4.
Cathy Berberian was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts to Armenian parents, Yervant and Louise Berberian.
5.
Cathy Berberian went on to study music in Paris with Marya Freund in 1948, and in 1949 she went to Milan to study singing at the Milan Conservatory with Giorgina del Vigo.
6.
From 1950 to 1964 Cathy Berberian was married to Luciano Berio, whom she met when they were students at the Milan Conservatory.
7.
Cathy Berberian became Berio's muse and collaborator both during and after their marriage.
8.
In 1967 Cathy Berberian released a 12-track album that consisted entirely of quirky baroque-style cover versions of songs by The Beatles, entitled Beatles Arias.
9.
Eco and Berberian worked together in other projects too and he nicknamed her magnificathy.
10.
Cathy Berberian had gained weight and had developed heart problems, but nevertheless continued with an ambitious concert schedule.
11.
On 7 March 1983, in a broadcast on RAI Italian Television that marked the centennial of Karl Marx's death, Cathy Berberian had planned to perform the Italian version of "The Internationale" in the style of Marilyn Monroe.