American mezzo-soprano Cathy Berberian (1925–1983) was a one-of-a-kind singer. On one hand, she was associated with modern music and contemporary composers wrote works for her, including Luciano Berio (to whom she was married from 1950 to 1966), John Cage, Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, and William Walton. At the same time, she collaborated with Nikolaus Harnoncourt in his groundbreaking recordings of 17th century operas by Monteverdi.
Berberian’s interests were remarkably diverse. She went to New York University and Columbia University and studied dance, acting, diction, pantomime, opera, literature, and costume design. Based in Italy during most of her career, she, in addition to concertizing, worked with Umberto Eco in translating Jules Feiffer’s cartoons into Italian.
