This was not only a moving and involving performance. It was the kind of thing one hears very seldom in our pre-packaged, clingfilm-covered modern concert life. Here was a man, renowned for his involvement with contemporary music, showing how well he comprehended every aspect of a late Romantic masterpiece. (full review in pdf format)

For Sequenza XIV he got the Arditti's Rohan de Saram, born in old "Ceylon", to explain Sri Lankan drum-rhythms to him. The result combines warm, singing lines with sections where the cellist sets his bow aside to stab out notes on his strings with the fingers of his left hand (de Saram's are very strong and sure) while his right hand strums rhythms on the wooden belly of his instrument.

It's a complex and substantial piece but also, as usual, freshly seductive and probably inimitable. De Saram, a great cellist but absurdly modest, would admit to being very pleased. (…)

This 14th Sequenza was the last of Berio's series for solo instruments, which expanded the repertoire and the identity of every instrument from the trombone to the accordion. The cello piece was written in 2002, a year before Berio's death, for de Saram himself. The mesmerising, rhythmic sounds, inspired by Sri Lankan drums, were a constant refrain throughout the work.

However, as with every other sequenza, the cello piece does not just introduce new techniques and sounds, it transforms more familiar gestures: phrases of achingly lyrical music, dreams of romantic warmth and intimacy complemented the energy of the percussive sections. De Saram's performance characterised every element with virtuosic precision, and held them in a subtle balance.

Gerhard Rohde, NMZ, 2002/6

Vergleichsweise übersichtlich, wenn auch keinesfalls strukturell einfach, stellt sich das Monologisieren bei Luciano Berio oder Beat Furrer dar. Mit der „Sequenza XIV (Dual)” für Violoncello fügt Berio seiner Solo-Serie, an der er seit 1957 arbeitet, ein weiteres Stück hinzu. Auch in „Sequenza XIV” werden in den harmonischen und melodischen Verläufen spezifische Eigentümlichkeit des Instruments, hier des Cellos, „erkundet”, wobei die technische Brillanz des Solisten Rohan de Saram (vom Arditti-Quartett) vom Komponisten als konstituierendes Element in die Komposition einbezogen wird. Es handelt sich in gewisser Weise also um einen „Doppel-Monolog”, einen des Komponisten und einen des Interpreten, der im Augenblick der Darstellung zu einer Einheit verschmilzt.