A harsh drumbeat is answered by a tender note from the flute – Intolleranza 1960 is a rollercoaster of emotions for the audience, says director Jan Lauwers during the Terrace Talk on his new production. Why is Luigi Nono’s azione scenica a masterwork?
Ingo Metzmacher and Jan Lauwers, photo SF/Anne Zeuner
“Intolleranza is timeless and eternally valid. The title may say 1960, but it is as relevant in 2021 as it was then,” he says, adding that some things may feel like a fist blow to the face, but the music holds just as many tender, sensitive elements. Of course the 20-minute torture scene is shocking, he says, but its form and the combination with the music make the scene acceptable.
Sean Panikkar (Un emigrante), photo SF/Maarten Vanden Abeele
Conductor Ingo Metzmacher describes the music as archaic, but highly organized and written with a plan. “He poured his heart and soul into it,” says the conductor. “It is impossible to escape. Nono’s music is overwhelmingly powerful.” He explains that after yesterday’s run-through, he was emotionally exhausted.
Intolleranza 1960
One week before the premiere, at a point where corrections to elements like lighting are commonly made, conductor and director agree that everything is just right. “I can tell the protagonists: now it is up to you,” says Jan Lauwers, who is also responsible for sets and video. During the run-through, an American performer spontaneously called out “I can’t breathe” during the torture scene. This is not written anywhere, but Lauwers describes it as the performer’s decision and a strong message. “I have the feeling we can develop hierarchies horizontally here,” the director says. He adds that his work is based on freedom. Of course many positions are fixed and agreed, but some are indeed improvised. There are almost 200 people on stage: dancers, singers, chorus, percussionists. “That is a political statement, all these people working together on this 48-metre stage, after the coronavirus pause,” says Jan Lauwers. To him, it is all about migration, motion, people on the road.
Sung-Im Her
The director explains that he had no idea how emotional the journey with this opera would be. His approach was a highly multi-cultural one, placing artists from Sri Lanka, South Africa and many other countries on stage. Especially after movements such as #blacklivesmatter and #metoo, he says it was important for him as a white director to incorporate these elements within his work.
Misha Downey and Sean Panikkar
Conductor Ingo Metzmacher is highly enthusiastic about his ensemble of singers: Sean Panikkar (Un emigrante) has the most difficult part in musical terms, with several high Cs, and even in rehearsal, he invariably sang them with bravura. Sarah Maria Sun, however, in the role of La sua compagna, has the most beautiful music of all. “Very high sopranos have a tradition in Nono’s music,” he explains. “I also love the colour of the chorus. It is extremely difficult to sing this part by heart.” It is often hard to tell the difference between chorus members and dancers, Jan Lauwers adds: choristers are not necessarily accustomed to dancing. His choreographer Paul Blackman, however, had an excellent idea: warming up to disco music. “That opens up the body and eliminated the fear the choristers had of their own bodies,” he says.
Luigi Nono (1924 – 1990)
Intolleranza 1960
Azione scenica in two parts (1961) based on an idea of Angelo Maria Ripellino
Libretto by Luigi Nono using texts by Henri Alleg, Bertolt Brecht, Paul Éluard, Julius Fučík, Vladimir Mayakovski, Angelo Maria Ripellino and Jean-Paul Sartre
New production
Anna Maria Chiuri (Una donna)
Ingo Metzmacher Conductor
Jan Lauwers Director, Sets and Video
Jan Lauwers, Paul Blackman Choreography
Lot Lemm Costumes
Ken Hioco Lighting
Paul Jeukendrup Sound Design
Elke Janssens, Kasia Tórz Dramaturgy
Sean Panikkar Un emigrante
Sarah Maria Sun La sua compagna
Anna Maria Chiuri Una donna
Antonio Yang Un algerino
Musa Ngqungwana Un torturato
Sung-Im Her, Misha Downey, Victor Lauwers, Yonier Camilo Mejia (Needcompany) Acting and solo dance
In cooperation with Needcompany
Dancers of BODHI PROJECT
and SEAD – Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance
Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus
Huw Rhys James Chorusmaster
Vienna Philharmonic (After Press materials).
Marijan Zlobec
En odgovor na “Luigi Nono (1924 – 1990)- Intolleranza 1960 in Salzburg”
Dragi Marijan,
naj živi glasbena Ljubljana, naj živi glasbeni Salzburg!
Stvari niso tako popreprosteno enostavne, ko se zdijo, zlasti na prvi pogled. Ko ne bi bilo tebe, Marijan, dragi poznavalec evropskega in svetovnega glasbenega, posebej še opernega življenja, ne bi bili Slovenci pč seznanjeni, da se sploh kje kaj dogaja… – razen kdaj s povzeto in celo ignorantsko vsiljeno vestičko.
Sporočaš nam, da je slavna Cecilija Bartoli na Salzburških slavnostnih igrah kot ena sama strast in veselje, predanost in ljubezen, z mladostno lepoto nezastarljivega videza, znana po interpretaciji Rossinijeve in Mozartove glasbe ali manj znanih klasičnih, še baročnih pevskih del -Vivaldija, Glucka in Salierija, saj si se teh Salzburških slavnosti osebno udeleževal in o njih dejansko tudi glasbenokritično poročal.
V Sloveniji je potrebno klasificirati verjetno tudi glasbeno vzgojo že v osnovni šoli, tudi na srednjih šolah, zkasti na učiteljiščih oziroma na gimnzijah kot srednjih šolah za vzgojiteljice v oroških vrtcih. Da bodo naši otroci vzljubili klasično glasbo, resno glasbo – seveda z upoštevanjem tudi narodne pesmi in kvalitetnega zabavnega popevkarstva.
Naj povem anekdoto. Moj Videk je v ljubljanskem Gledališkem klubu Krka posedel skupaj z Ladkom Korošcem, basistom, slvnim opernim in koncertnim pevcem. Zalotil sem ju nekako v njunih pogovorih… o glasbi, moj dečko se je s pevcem odlično razumel pa mu je rekel: »Poslušaj, Ladko, zame je najboljši skladatelj na svetu Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Se strinjaš?«
Sem videl, kak se je pevec zdrznil ob tej Vidkovi otroški trditvi, potlej pa je dejal: »Ja, veš, sem pel mnoge skladatelje…, ampak če zdaj prav pomislim, hm, je res najboljši, tudi zame, Mozart!«
Pustil sem, da sta se moj otrok in slavni pevec prijateljsko pomenkovala pa sem se umaknil, ko sta še stikala glave.
In, dragi Marijan, še danes sem le ganjen, ko se spomnim, kako sta se srčnó našla v glasbi moj otrok in slavni pevec Ladko Korošec.
Vladimir Gajšek