Io, frammento da Prometeo - Nono, Luigi 1924-1990; Cacciari, Massimo (Milan Ricordi, 2002)
for 3 sopranos, small chorus, bass flute, contrabass clarinet and live electronics
In 1975, Nono sketched out Prometeo - tragedia dell'ascolto ("Prometheus - tragedy of listening"), a project that would occupy him for the next decade: a vast meditation with no sets, costumes, characters or narration, totally absorbing the performance into the musical discourse. Here, the Italian composer denounced the conventions of opera, where singing, by illustrating the scenic dimension, disperses the spectator's attention to the detriment of listening. In opposition to this perception determined by the gaze, which the frontal arrangement directs in a single direction, he conceived his work as an archipelago where the listener's ear is invited to move, as if it were sailing between islands. Premiered on 24 September 1981, Io was subsequently included in Prometeo's "Isola seconda". But if Nono confronts the priestess loved by Zeus with the Titan who defied the gods, it is also because he sees in these two characters emblematic figures of the quest and the wanderer. What's more, Io embodies the "choice between a balanced, well-thought-out, secure existence and a problematic, anxious, even distressing existence - even with moments of intense joy - an existence open to all experience, to all knowledge". No doubt he will encourage his audience to choose the second option, where listening becomes the key to an awakened consciousness. (Translated with DeepL.com)
A più cori, per 3 soprani, piccolo coro, flauto basso, clarinetto contrabasso in si bemolle e live electronics