Nono: Prometeo

I was first introduced to Nono's works during a BBC Radio 3 Broadcast from the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival several years ago, and I feel in love with his late works immediately.

Prometeo is an opera that occurs entirely without visual dramatic action. In this particular recording, the Ensemble Modern teams up with the Freiburg Soloists Choir, with Ingo Metzmacher taking the role of conductor.

The first thing ...
...from being able to tell exactly what is contained in the set. The double-cd box and libretto are contained in a cardboard slip-case that only declares "Luigi Nono - Prometeo - Metzmacher", and the requisite stock numbers/bar-codes etc. from Sony/BMG.

Once past this minor hurdle, the package proves to be a fairly standard multi-lingual libretto, containing a short description of the work, biography of Nono, and full text of ... more

I was first introduced to Nono's works during a BBC Radio 3 Broadcast from the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival several years ago, and I feel in love with his late works immediately.

Prometeo is an opera that occurs entirely without visual dramatic action. In this particular recording, the Ensemble Modern teams up with the Freiburg Soloists Choir, with Ingo Metzmacher taking the role of conductor.

The first thing to note is that the packaging itself precludes the consumer from being able to tell exactly what is contained in the set. The double-cd box and libretto are contained in a cardboard slip-case that only declares "Luigi Nono - Prometeo - Metzmacher", and the requisite stock numbers/bar-codes etc. from Sony/BMG.

Once past this minor hurdle, the package proves to be a fairly standard multi-lingual libretto, containing a short description of the work, biography of Nono, and full text of the work (with translations).

It is the recording itself that truly takes the breath away. Nono's sound-world by this period consists of subtle sustained intervals drifting languorously, with interjections of dissonance, sudden outbursts, and unusual playing techniques that create unfamiliar textures.

In particular, the Choir do a fantastic job of holding the sustained intervals (predominantly consonances of fourths, fifths or octaves), over which the narrators provide the dramatic text. Beneath these layers, the soloists of the Ensemble Modern provide a desolate landscape of over-blown winds, con battuta and sul ponticello strings, key-clicks, and other thoroughly "modern" orchestal techniques. Nono uses this to form an orchestral conversation between the lofty intentions of the eternal Gods (as symbolised by the choral layers interlocking structures and temporal expansion), and the action on the mundane world of mankind (through the striving of the instruments to achieve the perfection of the godhead).

The entire ensemble is crystal clear on this recording, as indeed it requires to be if it is attempting to translate the delicate sounds of Nono's scoring to the hi-fi realm. The room ambience microphones are also mixed perfectly on this recording - there are no huge washes of reverb, and no sterility of instrument separation either.

So, what's the catch?

It's a live recording, of a live performance, with very live audience members involved. Despite the fact the many of the audience members must have been aware that they would have to sit very quietly for around 2 hours in order to appreciate this work, some of them choose to bring along the coughs and colds that they have been nursing. Of course you could argue that this adds to the listening experience, as it simulates a true live concert, but you can't glare at the back of the cougher's head on this one!

It is hard to maintain concentration for the 2 hours, but it is worth it as you hear the gradual coalescing of the disparate elements, and their eventual dissolution also; an alchemical journey in stereo!

For the best experience, listen late at night with headphones in a darkened room. 

...less