''Prometeo'' (''Prometheus'') is an "

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

" by

Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...

, written between 1981 and 1984 and revised in 1985. Here the word "opera" carries the generic Italian meaning of "works", as in work of art, and not its usual meaning. Indeed, Nono scornfully labels ''Prometeo'' a "tragedia dell'ascolto", a tragedy of listening. Objectively it can be considered a sequence of nine cantatas, the longest lasting 23 minutes. The Italian libretto, by Massimo Cacciari, selects from texts by such varied authors as

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish ...

and Rainer Maria Rilke and presents the different versions of the myth of

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning " forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, kn ...

without telling any version literally.

Vocal and orchestral forces

''Prometeo'' in its final form (1985) is scored for: * 5 vocal soloists (2 sopranos, 2 altos, 1 tenor) * 2 speakers (one male, one female) * choir (12 singers) * 4 orchestral groups, each consisting of: flute/ piccolo, clarinet, bassoon,

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

, 4

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

* 7 glasses * 6 instrumental soloists: bass flute/piccolo/C flute,

contrabass clarinet The contrabass clarinet (also pedal clarinet, after the pedals of pipe organs) and contra-alto clarinet are the two largest members of the clarinet family that are in common usage. Modern contrabass clarinets are transposing instruments pitc ...

/clarinet in B/ clarinet in E, trombone/

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

euphonium The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" o ...

, viola, cello, double bass * 2 conductors. Sounds from the vocalists and instrumentalists are electronically manipulated. The duration of the final version is given as 135 minutes.

Nine sections

The work's nine sections are: * Prologo * Isola Prima * Isola Seconda * Interludio Primo * Tre Voci (a) * Isola Terza – Quarta – Quinta * Tre Voci (b) * Interludio Secondo * Stasimo Secondo

Performance history

At the premiere of the first version, at the Church of San Lorenzo in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

on 25 September 1984,

Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony ...

was the conductor, with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, a choir from the

Hochschule für Musik Freiburg ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

, and the following vocal soloists: Ingrid Ade, Monika Bair-Ivenz,

Bernadette Manca di Nissa Bernadette Manca di Nissa (born 27 September 1954) is an Italian operatic contralto who has sung leading roles in the principal opera houses of Italy as well as internationally. She has appeared at La Scala in Milan, La Fenice in Venice, Teatr ...

, Susanne Otto, and Mario Bolognesi. It is not clear whether a Conductor II was deployed. The revised and final ''Prometeo'' premiered at Teatro alla Scala in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

on 25 September 1985, conducted by

Peter Hirsch Sir Peter Bernhard Hirsch HonFRMS FRS (born 16 January 1925) is a figure in British materials science who has made fundamental contributions to the application of transmission electron microscopy to metals. Hirsch attended Sloane Grammar S ...

. Nono banned all photography of the production in an attempt to stop what he called "artistic consumerism." ''Prometeo'' had its first international premieres in France and Germany in 1987. The performances at Festival d'Automne in Paris and

Alte Oper Alte Oper (Old Opera) is a concert hall in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. It is located in the inner city, Innenstadt, within the banking district Bankenviertel. Today's Alte Oper was built in 1880 as the city's opera house, which was destr ...

Frankfurt featured

Ensemble Modern Ensemble Modern is an international ensemble dedicated to performing and promoting the music of modern composers. Formed in 1980, the group is based in Frankfurt, Germany, and made up variously of about twenty members from numerous countries. Hi ...

and conductors

Friedrich Goldmann Friedrich Goldmann (27 April 1941 – 24 July 2009) was a German composer and conductor. Life Born on 27 April 1941 in Siegmar-Schönau (since July 1951 incorporated into Chemnitz), Goldmann's music education began in 1951 when he joined the Dr ...

and David Shallon. The work was later also presented as part of the

Berliner Festspiele The Berliner Festspiele (German for Berlin Festivals) are a series of festivals, art exhibitions, and other cultural events organized all year long by a common organization in Berlin. Events are held at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, a pre-ex ...

in September 2011 under Matilda Hofman (Conductor II) and

Arturo Tamayo Arturo Tamayo Ballesteros (born 3 August 1946) is a Spanish conductor and music teacher. Life Tamayo studied music at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid, while studying Law at the Complutense University of Madrid. He finally ...

(Conductor I); Cyndia Sieden, Silke Evers, Susanne Otto, Noa Frenkel, and Hubert Mayer were the vocal soloists, with the

Konzerthausorchester Berlin The Konzerthausorchester Berlin is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin. The orchestra is resident at the Konzerthaus Berlin, designed by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The building was destroyed during World War II, and was rebui ...

. Its South American premiere took place at Argentina's

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...

, in November 2013.

Recordings

* EMI Classics 5 55209 2 – 1993, live in Salzburg: Ingrid Ade-Jesemann, Monika Bair-Ivenz, Susanne Otto, Helena Rasker, Peter Hall; Solistenchor Freiburg;

;

Ingo Metzmacher Ingo Metzmacher (born 10 November 1957 in Hanover) is a German conductor and artistic director of the festival KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen in Hanover. Life Ingo Metzmacher is the son of the cellist Rudolf Metzmacher and the research biol ...

, conductor * Col Legno WWE2SACD20605 – 2003, live in Freiburg: Petra Hoffmann, Monika Bair-Ivenz, Susanne Otto, Noa Frenkel, Hubert Mayer, singers; Sigrun Schell, Gregor Dalal (speakers); Freiburg Soloists’ Choir, ensemble recherche, Soloists’ Ensembles of the Freiburg Philharmonic and SWR Symphony Orchestras, Experimentalstudio Heinrich-Strobel-Stiftung of the SWR Freiburg (

André Richard André Richard (born 18 April 1944) is a Swiss composer and conductor. Life Born in Bern, Richard studied singing, music theory and music composition first at the Conservatoire de musique de Genève and later at the Hochschule für Musik Frei ...

, director);

(1st conductor),

Kwamé Ryan Kwamé Ryan (born 1970 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Trinidadian conductor. Career Early history and education Ryan is the son of Joya Gomez, a school teacher and actress and Selwyn Ryan, a university professor. Having set his sights on a career in ...

(2nd conductor)

References

{{Authority control Italian-language operas Operas Operas by Luigi Nono 1985 operas 1984 operas Spatial music