Michelangelo Unveiled. Bussotti’s «Nottetempo»

A particularly representative example of the frequent thematisation of all-round eroticism in Bussotti’s operas is Nottetempo, “a one-fragment lyrical drama based on Varagine, Michelangelo and Sophocles”. Commissioned by the Teatro alla Sca- la, the opera debuted at the Teatro Lirico in Milan on 7 April 1976 in a diptych with Oggetto amato, marking the birth of BussottiOperaBallet. The chapter investigates how queerness permeates this original reinterpretation of a classical myth. Elements of the plot and the scenography designed by Bussotti for the premiere are explained in terms of the author’s wish to underscore the homoerotic desire. The aria sung by the protagonist in the section Nottetempo – the third of the four parts into which the work is divided – is read in light of Bussotti’s intent to underscore the erotic charge of the passage. Quotations from Michelangelo’s Rime, from Heimito von Doderer’s «The Lighted Windows» and from a story by Aldo Palazzeschi are also read in this context. Lastly, some excerpts from the press review of the première are discussed to highlight how most journalists harshly criticised the opera because of its contro- versial topic.