Intolleranza 1960 - Background and Performance History

Background and Performance History

Intolleranza 1960 was Luigi Nono's first work for the opera stage and is a flaming protest against intolerance and oppression and the violation of human dignity. The year in the title refers to the time of the work's origin. Nono himself said of this work that it "did mark a beginning for me, but in no sense did it constitute a tabula rasa or in response to 'divine inspiration'". It was commissioned for the 1969 Venice Biennale by its director Mario Labroca. The first performance was conducted by Bruno Maderna on 13 April 1961 at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. The stage design was by the famous radical painter Emilio Vedova, a friend of Nono's. The premiere was disrupted by neo-fascists, who shouted "Viva la polizia" during the torture scene. Nono's opponents accused him of poisoning Italian music. Nono revised the work into a one-act version for a 1974 performance. A performance by the Boston Opera Group in 1964 (please help with accuracy of the date) was suppressed by John Birchers and other right-wing activist. It was subsequently presented the following year.

Fabrice Fitch has commented that this work has "no plot as such", but rather consists of a series of scenes that illustrate aspects of intolerance. Nono himself interpreted the testimony of his work as follows:

"Intolleranza 1960" is the awakening of human awareness in a man who has rebelled against the demands of necessity - an emigrant miner - and searches for a reason and a "human" base for life. After several experiences of intolerance and domination, he is beginning to rediscover human relations, between himself and others, when he is swept away in a flood with other people. There remains his certainty in "a time when one wants to be a help to you". Symbol? Report? Fantasy? All three, in a story of our time.