Voci / Naturale (with Traditional - Sicilian Folksongs)

"The two major compositions, both written in the mid-Eighties on this stunningly produced disc, show Berio at his most concerned with the melange of art and folk musics. Both pieces shy away from the neoclassical reinventions of this avantgarde compatriots. Instead of Palestrina, Monteverdi or Scarlatti, it is the folk music of Sicily that undergoes a magical transformation. The original recordings of the folk songs are reproduced here, delicately placed between Berio's two large-scale meditations. Kashkashian binds this recording together with her electrically theatrical performance, particularly in "Naturale" with its superimposition of original Sicilian folk singing."
- Tarik O'Regan, The Observer

BBC Music Magazine - Best CDs of 2002

Editor's Choice - Gramophone Magazine (March 2002)

***** Five Stars BBC Music Magazine (March 2002)

"Here's a disc no one interested in music of our time should miss."
- International Record Review. Jan 2002

Superb performances by Kim Kashkashian distinguish this exceptional recording, on which the violist plays Luciano Berio's "Voci" and "Naturale", masterworks inspired by Sicilian folk melodies. The compositions are connected here by authentic field recordings from Sicily, making evident some of the sources that have long fired Berio's imagination. International Record Review: "On Voci the viola is ruminative, seeming to dwell in the interior spaces of these folk melodies, to enable them to sing in a new way and so reveal their continuity with the music of late modernity....Kim Kashkashian's playing is a real joy; everything is done with unfailing conviction, intelligence and warmth. Here's a disc no one interested in the music of our time should miss."