Luigi Nono: "Intolleranza" (Boston, 1965)

Here is the American premiere of Luigi Nono's one-act opera performed by the Opera Company of Boston under the direction of Bruno Maderna. The soloists were Lawrence White (A Migrant); Beverly Sills (His Companion); Margaret Roggero (A Woman); Ercole Bertolino (An Algerian); and Guus Hoekman (A Torture Victim). It is a symbolic musical drama that protests war, intolerance, oppression, colonialism and Fascism. The John Birch Society and other right-wing activists suppressed what was to be the American premiere in Boston in 1964, but it was eventually performed at the Back Bay Theater in Boston on February 21, 1965.

Part One
Opening chorus 0:00
1st scene: In a mining village 2:37
2nd scene: A woman rushes in 8:20
3rd scene: In a city 12:42
4th scene: in a police station 18:01
5th scene: The torture 22:53
6th scene: In a concentration camp 26:25
7th scene: After the escape 32:56

Part Two
1st scene: Some absurdities of contemporary life 37:24
2nd scene: a meeting between a refugee and his companion 41:50
3rd scene: Projections of episodes of terror and fanaticism 53:30
4th scene: In the vicinity of a village on the banks of a great river 57:43
Final chorus 1:05:09

Link to my playlist for Guus Hoekman:    • Guus Hoekman (1913-1996)