The Nono Thief

[Kullervo]

This article is a little old, but I thought it was so funny that I had to share it here.

Vienna thief snatches hundreds of obscure avant-garde music CDs

Oct 25, 2007, 14:10 GMT

Vienna - A thief single-mindedly stole between 800 and 1,000 CDs by the Italian avant-garde composer Luigi Nono (1924-1990) from the warehouse of a Vienna music distributor, police said Thursday.

In order to get to CDs of 'Prometeo' - a Nono work featuring four orchestras, a choir, speakers, two conductors and five soloists - the burglar had to break open a lock and move other merchandise to the side, Austrian media reported.

'It sounds like something made up,' a bemused Stefanie Schurich, manager of the music shop 'col legno', was quoted as saying by the Austrian press agency. 'I have no explanation for this.'

Despite the fact that the CDs - on the market only since October 19 - were no commercial smash hit, the burglar left other potentially more valuable things behind.

But he did take 222 CDs of another work by Nono. The 'Prometeo' CD is sold for around 30 to 40 euros, and only 2,000 of them had been produced.

Nono's work may be even less accessible than his CDs - his compositions are highly complex and do not fall into the category 'easy listening', making it doubtful that the thief had was after some fast money on the black market.

[Novi]

This article is a little old, but I thought it was so funny that I had to share it here.

Vienna thief snatches hundreds of obscure avant-garde music CDs
...

LOL, will have to keep an eye out for who's posting a lot of Nono in the 'What are you Listening to' thread ...

[springrite]

That wasn't me. I would have taken the Gubaidulina that was taken to the side, as well as the complete Bach edition!

[Kullervo]

Perhaps he was taking revenge on Col Legno for charging nearly $20 for CDs with a running time of less than an hour.

[springrite]

You have to admire the guy for his love of music and art. But still, theft of any kind is a No-no!

[greg]

LOL, will have to keep an eye out for who's posting a lot of Nono in the 'What are you Listening to' thread ...

seems weird to me that he'd take a bunch of copies of the same work....... i could understand taking the complete Nono collection, but 222 copies of Prometeo 

[The new erato]

seems weird to me that he'd take a bunch of copies of the same work....... i could understand taking the complete Nono collection, but 222 copies of Prometeo 

Perhaps they're copy-protected?

[bhodges]

That's a great story.  (And they say people aren't interested in 20th-century music... )

--Bruce

[Josquin des Prez]

You have to admire the guy for his love of music and art. But still, theft of any kind is a No-no!

I see what you did there.

[not edward]

Perhaps this was some kind of prank intended to draw attention to Nono's communist politics? ("Selling expensive copies of communist music to the bourgeoisie? How decadent!")

[bhodges]

Perhaps this was some kind of prank intended to draw attention to Nono's communist politics? ("Selling expensive copies of communist music to the bourgeoisie? How decadent!")

Now that actually sounds plausible!  (I can't believe there isn't at least one conceptual artist involved in this.)

--Bruce

[mahlertitan]

Maybe Nono stole his own CDs, so he can make a big story in the news, and people will know his name, and listen to his music?

[Kullervo]

Maybe Nono stole his own CDs, so he can make a big story in the news, and people will know his name, and listen to his music?

From the grave?

[BachQ]

theft of any kind is a No-no!

[BachQ]

From the grave?

Haven't you ever heard of grave robbers?

[Kullervo]

Haven't you ever heard of grave robbers?

I would imagine they are most a serious sort of folk.

[mahlertitan]

From the grave?

is there a Nono. jr?

[Josquin des Prez]

is there a Nono. jr?

Ha, the plot thickens.

[not edward]

is there a Nono. jr?

IIRC, he had two daughters, Bastiana and Silvia. Despite the genes (Nono's wife was Schoenberg's daughter), neither became composers, but maybe they became CD thieves?

[greg]

IIRC, he had two daughters, Bastiana and Silvia. Despite the genes (Nono's wife was Schoenberg's daughter), neither became composers, but maybe they became CD thieves?

ha! maybe they really didn't care for Prometeo, thought it really sucked and stole the CDs to burn them so no one could hear the music and be disgraced by his name?...