<<  -- 9 --  Jennifer I Paull    CATHY BERBERIAN - NEVER KNOWINGLY MISUNDERSTOOD

'Who has not for the sake of his reputation sacrificed himself?' -- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher, classical scholar, critic of culture

Cathy Berberian. She cared more about Berio's reputation and sacrificed herself for it. Cathy has been knowingly undersold, under-respected and undervalued. She is not so much misunderstood as deliberately disregarded. A woman, decades ahead of her time; had she been a man, her influence upon those around her would have been overtly acknowledged as it was so blatantly undeniable. In the end, the paparazzi who made the young, innocent Princess Diana stand in front of the light so that her legs showed through her skirt unflatteringly (and at the time, most shockingly), did not do her a disservice. She was not made to look ridiculous. The vulture paparazzi caricaturised themselves and the passing of time has put that photo shoot into its true perspective. So will the history of music reveal Cathy Berberian in hers.

'Honor ... means that a man is not exceptional; fame, that he is. Fame is something which must be won; honor, only something which must not be lost.' -- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) philosopher; originally published in Parerga and Paralipomena, vol 2 (1851) The Wisdom of Life, Complete Essays of Schopenhauer

Fame fades when the historical lens of history is continually distorted. Sometimes one has to fight for its flame to be fanned and thus allowed to be kept burning. Enough sacrifices were made by she whose role was as vital to her composer husband as oxygen to the blaze.

Everyone wishes to have truth on his side, but not everyone wishes to be on the side of truth.' -- Richard Whately, philosopher, reformer, theologian, economist (1787-1863)