ABSTRACT
In the continuous search for dramatic subjects, Luigi Nono had been discussing a new work with Claudio Abbado and Maurizio Pollini. A letter to Abbado from November 1971, while they were working on projects for Reggio Emilia and Como una ola de fuerza e luz, refers to the possibility of a new opera. Nono’s initial timetable for the year shows how he intended to distribute the writing of three acts through 1973. In the event, the refurbishing of La Scala put back the premiere to the following season, and composition continued into 1974. Paolo Grassi, nervous about public reaction in such politically fragile times and initially unconvinced by the title, was keen to see a libretto without delay. At the beginning of 1975, with the score completed and Al gran sole entering production, Nono found himself embroiled in a public debate even more heated than he had imagined. The infrastructure of Italian culture was undergoing upheaval.
