Watch the nose on great performances at the met on sunday, february 23, 2014, at 12 noon on pbs check local listings. After a visit to the barber, the nose absconds from the mans face and takes on a lif. Setting literally word for word the dialogue from gogols tale of a nose that leaves its face in search of action and adventure, shostakovichs the nose is arguably the funniest opera of the twentieth century. Buy sheetmusic from shostakovich at sheetmusicplus our dream. The fifteenth annual bard music festival will focus on dmitrii shostakovich and his world during the second annual summerscape at bard college, annandaleonhudson ny. Mar 01, 2018 directed by the outrageously inventive barrie kosky, this debut opera from the 20 year old shostakovich is zany, frenetic and quite bonkers. All the tracks performed by claudio colombo, on yamaha digital pianos. The above is taken from the grove dictionary of music and musicians, attributable to laurel fay. Its a remarkably assured and fully successful and mature work, a neglected comic masterpiece that only since the composers death has begun to. Get a free mp3 of dmitri shostakovich the gadfly suite. Shostakovich was only 20 when he began writing the nose, his operatic debut. The result, in shostakovichs ruthlessly irreverent hands, is like an operatic version of charlie chaplin or monty python.
The libretto is by shostakovich, yevgeny zamyatin, georgy ionin, and alexander preis. The score calls for three flutes and two piccolos, two oboes, two clarinets, two. In his first dramatic work the composer immediately showed himself to be a master of musical drama, as well as a born avantgarde experimenter. Dmitri shostakovich music, videos, stats, and photos. Licensed to youtube by sme on behalf of sony classical. Gogols farcical fable of officialdom has the government official kovalyev waking up to discover his barber has inadvertently cut off his nose while shaving, and while he tries to get it back and reattach it, the nose starts to pursue a career of its own at a higher civil service rank. Other works include the operas lady macbeth of mtsensk, the nose and the unfinished the gamblers.
For listeners who think it is impossible to be atonal and funny at the same time, there is shostakovichs the nose. Hearing history in shostakovichs fifth symphony for marin alsop, music director of the baltimore symphony beginning in 2007, the centennial of dmitri shostakovichs birth presents an. Get your team aligned with all the tools you need on one secure, reliable video platform. Set in st petersburg, dmitri shostakovichs satirical opera the nose received its premier in 1930. Shostakovich wasnt a child prodigy, but he grew up in an unusually musical home and revealed from an early age exceptional talent, a keen ear, a sharp musical memory, and great disci plineall the essential tools except, perhaps, for selfconfidence and political savvy for a major career in the music world. Shostakovich completed his first symphony in december 1925, and it was first performed on may 12, 1926, in leningrad. Although the main concern of this discussion will be operatic translation in the second, conventional sense of the term, a few remarks must first be made about the. Orchestral interlude from act i of shostakovich s the nose. Director barrie kosky and members of the creative team present their vision for shostakovichs first opera, acclaimed for its biting wit, hilarious action and orchestral brilliance. Based on nicolai gogols satirical short story of the same name written in 18351836 the opera tells the bizarre story of a government bureaucrat who loses his nose and embarks on a journey to get it back. In the nose it is probable, that shostakovich wanted to have the sound of a musical saw more below. The famous theatre director vsevolod meyerhold had many new ideas. Orchestral interlude from act i of shostakovichs the nose. Shostakovich composed the eighth symphony in just two months.
September 25 1906, st petersburg, russia august 9, 1975 was a russian composer of the soviet period. Sydney opera house director barrie koskys wild, grotesque, frenzied production resembles a. His tenth symphony had its premiere performance that same year. Shostakovich, d song of the forests the nose suite by. This is the definitive recording of one of shostakovichs important operas, the nose. The more you listen to villalobos, the more it seems as though he had a giant block of characteristic music that allowed him to cut off chunks of different shapes and sizes that he called guitar con. When josef stalin died in 1953, shostakovich could exhale at last. Jun 01, 2009 with close to 80 singing roles, albeit some of them have only a couple of lines, shostakovichs first opera, the nose, is a major logistical undertaking, to say nothing of its sheer complexity. Fortunately, shostakovich did complete the nose, his first opera, also based on gogol, written when he was only 22, and it has a freshness and comedic and musical resonance that surpass the gamblers. The nose written 1928, performed 1978, another comedy based on a gogol story, could be the silliest satire i have ever heard. Social security administration public data, the first name shostakovich was not present. The production is indeed the one you see him directing on the 1974 video on youtube. Shostakovichs first symphony and his first opera, the nose, point in the modernist direction his later music might have taken, had he not so spectacularly fallen foul. It is possible the name you are searching has less than five occurrences per year.
In my latest symphony, music of a contemplative and. Help us with donations or by making music available. The musical character of the sixth symphony will differ from the mood and emotional tone of the fifth symphony, in which moments of tragedy and tension were characteristic. He faced terrifying challenges in how to proceed after the sustained attacks on his music and the banishment of his most recent symphony. Based on a short story by nikolai gogol, its absurdist plot. The soviet ministers of culture need not have raved so much about shostakovichs lady macbeth of mtsensk. Nos, is dmitri shostakovich s first opera, a satirical work completed in 1928 based on nikolai gogol s story of the same name 1836. Donate now to support your onestop classical music shop your contribution powers the wonder of classical music. Mar 08, 2010 shostakovich evokes frothy gallops, slithering waltzes and circus bands with a fractured modernist brilliance that equals stravinskys. At the same time, he received a number of accolades and state awards and served in the supreme soviet. Below is a complete performance of shostakovichs first opera the nose. The royal stockholm philharmonic orchestra and chief conductor sakari oramo perform one of his most personal works.
The premiere was a huge success, and received an ovation that lasted well over half an hour. For listeners who think it is impossible to be atonal and funny at the same time, there is shostakovich s the nose. However, operas that were being written then were mostly quite uninteresting. It was written in 1928, years before his many problems with censors and officials of the soviet regime, before the great terror, the purges, the second world war, the blockade of. The nose shostakovichs only comic opera, at bard summerscape 2004. A centerpiece of this years summerscape is the nose, an early work by shostakovich and his only comic opera. Shostakovich wrote a surreal opera about a nose just so we could all have our day improved by tapdancing, lifesized body parts. He is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century, with a. Setting literally word for word the dialogue from gogols tale of a nose that leaves its face in search of action and adventure, shostakovich s the nose is arguably the funniest opera of the twentieth century. Dimitri shostakovich opera the nose 1930, itself an adaptation of nikolaj gogols short story the nose, provides a case study by which both of these issues may be explored. Although the nose has been revived with enormous success from time to time, its performances have never been as frequent as this brilliant work deserves. Dmitri shostakovitch is regarded as one of the major 20th century composers due to his unique composition style and historic importance as the major composer of the soviet union primarily under stalinist rule. The nose, an album by dmitri shostakovich, various artists, valery gergiev, mariinsky orchestra on spotify we and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. Based on a short story by nikolai gogol, its absurdist plot r.
Oct 21, 2016 shostakovichs first symphony and his first opera, the nose, point in the modernist direction his later music might have taken, had he not so spectacularly fallen foul of the soviet regime. Download the new ipad app to watch on your tv with apple tv via airplay. Pavel smelkov conducts the first metropolitan opera revival of kentridges. Shostakovichs surreal and brilliant first opera tells the story of a man who wakes one morning to find that his nose has gone missing find out more at. Here you can listen to recordings of the flexaton part with musical saw and with flexatone. As i mentioned in that earlier post the opera needs to be seen to be fully appreciated. What a greater pity shostakovich never finished it. Folk feast, performed by ukraine national symphony orchestra. Musicological information on shostakovichs the nose the. Shostakovich had a complex and difficult relationship with the soviet government, suffering two official denunciations of his music, in 1936 and 1948, and the periodic banning of his work. At the time of its premiere, in november, 1943, leningrad was still under siege, but the soviets had started to repulse the germans, and optimistic celebration rather than pessimistic tragedy was. Based on a short story by nikolai gogol, its absurdist plot revolves around the exploits of a pompous government official and his nose. Written when the composer was just eighteen, shostakovichs first symphony mesmerizes with dry wit, displaying the young composers exciting and enduring.
Song of the forests the nose suite, an album by dmitri shostakovich, michail jurowski on spotify we and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. The nose is the work of a young man eager to show off. Dmitri shostakovich orchestral studies is a collection of percussion excerpts from the symphonies, operas, and concertos of dmitri shostakovich. In the examples 1a, 2a and 3a please try to ignore the doorbell sound in the background and listen to the singing instrument in the foreground. At this time a lot of exciting new movies were being made in the soviet union. Shostakovich, d song of the forests the nose suite jurowski by dmitry shostakovich. Its a remarkably assured and fully successful and mature work, a neglected comic masterpiece that only since the composers death has begun to gain a foothold in the repertoire of more adventurous. An anarchists hand grenade, is how one early performer described shostakovichs opera the nose. Flexaton musical saw in shostakovichs opera the nose. Fabulous villalobos from brazil for exotic instruments. Its first performance was on november 21, 1937, in leningrad by the leningrad philharmonic orchestra under yevgeny mravinsky. Dmitri shostakovitch is regarded as one of the major 20th century composers due to his unique composition style and historic importance as the major composer of the.
The return of shostakovich shostakovich, whose first child had just been born, was well aware of the show trials and mounting purges, as friends, family, and colleagues disappeared or were killed. The giant tapdancing noses scene from shostakovichs the. Louis postdispatch for his playing of brilliance, gorgeous tone and breathtaking facility, german violinist augustin hadelich performs brittens violin concerto, a work of noble themes and sinister rhythms. Dmitri shostakovich filmed in 1975 during rehearsals. British composer gerard mcburney writes the nose is. Shostakovich paid special attention to the nuances of gogols language and aimed for an equal balance between music and theatre.
Its as if someone were beating you with a stick and saying, your business is rejoicing, your business is. With close to 80 singing roles, albeit some of them have only a couple of lines, shostakovichs first opera, the nose, is a major logistical undertaking, to say. Shostakovichs the nose gave rise to his first runin with the soviet authorities. Jun 16, 2017 shostakovich was only 20 when he began writing the nose, his operatic debut. Libretto by shostakovich, yevgeny zamyatin, georgy ionin, and alexander preis based on the story the nose by nikolai gogol. But the lack of this aural stimulationof shakespeares eloquent wordsis recompensed in some measure by a splendid and stirring musical score by dmitri shostakovich. World premiere recording complete opera in three acts and an epilogue, op. The 21 year old composers exuberance explodes off of the stage. Shostakovich, d song of the forests the nose suite. His satiric opera the nose composed 192728, based on nikolay gogols story nos, displayed a comprehensive awareness of what was new in western music, although already it seems as if the satire is extended to the styles themselves, for the avantgarde sounds are contorted with wry humour. Giant tapdancing noses star in this brilliantly surreal shostakovich. There were also some very interesting new plays in the theatres.