A 20th Century Opera Collection - Dmitri Shostakovich - The Gamblers - The Nose - Rozhdestvensky

The Gamblers, Opera (Scenes after N.Gogol), Op.63

Alexei - Vladimir Rybasenko
Ikharyov - Vladimir Tarkhov
Gavryushka - Valery Belykh

Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra
Gennadi Rozhdestvensky

The Nose, Opera in 3 Acts after N.Gogol, Op.15

Platon Kuzmich Kovalyov - Eduard Akimov
Ivan Yakovlevich - Valery Belykh
Praskovya Osipovna - Nina Sasulova

Orchestra of the Moscow Musical Chamber Theatre
Gennadi Rozhdestvensky

Rec. 1975 - 78

Classical.net review:

The Gamblers (written 1943, performed 1976), adapted from the 1850 story by Nicolai Gogol, is a comedy about rogues, more precisely about an enterprising man with a deck of marked cards. Thinking that he is playing against yokels in a provincial town, he hooks up with two other scoundrels. The opera abounds with clever musical devices: the scene in which the card sharks cheat each other is brilliantly timed and orchestrated – it is a parody of Handel's oratorios and Italian Baroque operas. Shostakovich presents the praise of food segment in the style of a Bach cantata. Instruments personify characters, such as the stumbling tuba that accompanies the simple servant Gavryushka and an ill-timed bass for the cheat Shvokhnev. What a pity the opera has no women characters! What a greater pity Shostakovich never finished it!

The Nose (written 1928, performed 1978), another comedy based on a Gogol story, could be the silliest satire I have ever heard. The Soviet ministers of culture need not have raved so much about Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk; this inspired piece of nonsense is subversive enough. It is a perfect example of the avant-garde Russian art that flourished in the ten years following the Russian Revolution. From its opening scene, when the barber discovers that he has mistakenly cut the nose off of a customer and his magpie-like wife chides him, the opera never releases its daffy vice grip. In Act II, the police, told to prevent the nose from leaving the city, sing a ten-part chorale led by the inspector, an extended Russian folk song that will make you giggle like a child again. Even the instrumental interludes are pure cockamamie. A polka and waltz are allied to a bizarre fugue, which not only unravels but literally winds down, complete with cranking sounds. Shrill piccolos interrupt cantabile melodies, wild declarations occur next to arioso laments, and atonal episodes clash with neoclassical figures. Despite the humor in this work, Shostakovich was characteristically disingenuous about it: "Regardless of all the comical scenes, the music itself is not funny. I am aiming at true tone." Poor man. He was always looking over his shoulder.

Conductor Rozhdestvensky deftly navigates through all this wackiness. Hats off to baritone Eduard Akimov, who plays assessor Platon Kovalyov. He even blubbers rhythmically. Too bad these operas have no librettos; instead, there are barely adequate scene summaries. Play this one for your friends next time you hear them complain that Shostakovich is "too nineteeth century," "traditional," "unadventurous," or other such nonsense. You'll never see an opinion change so quickly.

Peter Bates




Tracklist:

Disc: 1
1. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): Introduction
2. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): Do come in, do come in…
3. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): I'm listening friend, go on…
4. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): What a sight…
5. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): Have you come far?…
6. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): Where is your master from?…
7. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): Wily fellows, these…
8. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): Perhaps Kazan is better…
9. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): Listen, did they give you much?…
10. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): I'm sorry, the room's not nice…
11. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): But, gentlemen, come come, don't let's argue…
12. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): Well well, this sturgeon is good…
13. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): Jack of clubs, diamonds…
14. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): And so we shake on the deal…
15. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): Do tell us…
16. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): Do you remember, Shvokhnev…
17. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): In a town…
18. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): We have our methods…
19. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): There was another one which went quite well…
20. The Gamblers, opera, for 6 male voices & orchestra (unfinished): Wily fellows, these…
21. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 1. Introduction
22. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 1. Scene 1. Today, Praskovya Osipovna, I will not take coffee…
23. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 1. Scene 2. Pick that up. You've lost something…
24. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 1. Interlude
25. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 1. Scene 3. Brr… brr… I've had a spot on my nose since yesterday…
26. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 1. Scene 3. Gallop
27. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 1. Scene 3. Ah… how on earth shall I address him…
Disc: 2
1. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 2. Introduction. Is the Police Inspector at home?…
2. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 2. Scene 5. You can take my word for it…
3. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 2. Scene 5. Largo. I have no idea how this misfortune occured…
4. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 2. Scene 5. No, I can't place such an ad in the newspaper…
5. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 2. Interlude
6. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 2. Scene 6. I am indissolubly linked to my love…
7. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 2. Scene 6. God, good God! Why this calamity?…
8. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 3. Scene 7. With the authority vested in me I order…
9. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 3. Scene 8. Is this where College Assessor Kovalyov lives?…
10. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 3. Scene 8. It's really my nose! There's the spot…
11. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 3. Scene 8. Hey, Ivan! Ivan!…
12. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 3. Scene 8. Hey, what a face…
13. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 3. Scene 8. Ah? Write to her / I'm writing…
14. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Act 3. Intermezzo. There goes Major Kovalyov's Nose for a walk…
15. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Epilogue. Scene 9. That's it! That's it!…
16. The Nose, opera, Op. 15: Epilogue. Scene 10. Good day Platon Kuzmich…

Pass: leverkuhn

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