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MA 0501
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MA 0501

Shostakovich - The Nose

Released Date:
01 Jun 2009

Originally recorded in 2009
Artists:

Soloists, Chorus, and Orchestra of The Mariinsky Theatre


Valery Gergiev


Vladislav Sulimsky


Alexei Tanovitski


Andrei Popov


Sergei Skorokhodov


Sergei Semishkur


Sergei Romanov


Vadim Kravets



Venue:

The Marinsky Concert Hall

15-23 Jul 2008

Producer:

James Mallinson



Engineer:

Dirk Sobotka


John Newton



Record Label
Mariinsky

Genre:

Opera


Orchestral & Concertos

Total Time - 101:31
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Buttonbooklet
   
 

DIMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

 

The Nose

  


Select Complete Single Disc for
  An opera in Three Acts with Ten Scenes  
  Libretto By: Y. Zamyatin, G. Ionin, A. Preis, A. Shostakovich  
   
   
  CD 1  
1 1 Act One: Prologue 1:52
   
2 2 Scene One: The barber shop of Ivan Yakovlevich 4:01
   
3 3 Scene Two: The embankment 2:53
   
4 4 Intermission (percussion) 2:59
   
  Scene Three:  
5 5 Kovalev's bedroom 2:38
6 6 Galop 1:56
   
7 7 Scene Four: Kazan Cathedral 8:26
   
  Act Two  
8 8 Prologue 1:18
   
9 9 Scene Five: At the newspaper office 14:10
   
10 10 Intermission (orchestra) 4:15
   
11 11 Scene Six: Kovalev's apartment 6:09
   
  TT CD 1: 50:41      
   


Select Complete Single Disc for
  CD 2  
  Act Three  
1 12 Scene Seven: The outskirts of St. Petersburg 15:44
2 13 Scene Eight: Kovalev's apartment and Podtochina's apartment 21:26
3 14 Interlude 5:52
   
  Epilogue  
4 15 Scene Nine: Kovalev's apartment 2:37
5 16 Scene Ten: Nevsky Prospect 5:15
   
  TT CD 2: 50:56      
   
 Valery Gergiev
   
 Vladislav Sulimsky
  Platon Kuzmich Kovalev, a collegiate assessor  
 Alexei Tanovitski
  Ivan Yakovlevich, a barber  
 Andrei Popov
  A district constable  
 Sergei Skorokhodov
  Ivan, Kovalev's valet  
 Sergei Semishkur
  The Nose  
 Sergei Romanov
  A countess' servant  
 Vadim Kravets
  A clerk in a newspaper office  
   
Shostakovich: The Nose – Mariinsky Soloists, Orchestra and Chorus, Valery Gergiev

This label, new to our download site, here offers a recording which has been made ‘Disc of the Month’ in the July issue of the magazine BBC Music, which gives it five stars:

‘The recorded sound is absolutely superb in its crystal clarity and depth, even managing the vast cavernous sense of ambience in the Cathedral Scene, while the percussion-only interlude has never sounded so affective… The ultimate winner in this excellent release, however, is Shostakovich. Now we can clearly see that he was never so obviously the youthful genius as in this continually brilliant operatic jape with subtly horrific undertones.’

Dmitri Shostakovich’s satirical opera The Nose, premiered in 1930, is based on a short story by Nikolai Gogol and set in St Petersburg. Its absurd plot revolves around the exploits of a pompous government official and his nose. After a visit to the barber, the nose absconds from the man’s face and takes on a life of its own; the pretentious bureaucrat is reduced to despair, frantically searching the city for his lost appendage. Although primarily a comic opera, The Nose touches on the struggle between the individual and society (here portrayed by a cast of more than eighty characters), and its spiky score is a 1920s modernist masterpiece from the prodigiously talented composer.



                             -  BBC Music Magazine Award Nominee -

                                -  Midem Classical Award Winner -

                                   - Classica Choc de l’Année -

"Shostakovich’s prodigious, youthful satire - composed when he was only 21 - has been assiduously championed by Gergiev ... Recorded under studio conditions in the Mariinsky’s brand new concert hall, this version is notable for the brilliance of the orchestra’s playing and the idiomatic delivery of the Gogol-based text by a new generation of Mariinsky voices. Both Vladislav Sulimsky as the noseless collegiate assessor, Kovalev, and Sergei Semishkur as his errant appendage perform with panache."
 

The Times - 31 May 2009

                          Disc of the Month
 

Opera Magazine - 1 June 2009

"This recording was made under studio conditions only last year, which is all to the good as the demands made on singers and players in The Nose require a precision of execution that live performances - however much they capture the heat of the moment - are unlikely to secure ... This release reaffirms The Nose as a testament to Shostakovich’s creative ambition at a time when the artistic possibilities music have seemed limitless. In doing so, the Mariinsky labels could not have been more persuasively launched."

International Record Review - 1 June 2009

"A new version of Shostakovich’s first opera is badly needed and this one fills the gap definitively … brilliantly realised"

 

THe Guardian - 5 June 2009

"The complete recording of The Nose is a special achievement ... The conductor achieves such vibrancy, detail and spontaneity that the opera sounds like the product of a mature composer who had worked for may years on the piece ... it’s alarming how much sophistication is brought forth in the score, mixing folk melodies with harmonic extremity, and the avant-garde nature of the core and libretto comes through absolutely in Gergiev’s wonderful reading. With a complete, clear libretto, informative essay by Leonid Gakkel and excellent playing from the Mariinsky orchestra, there’s much to enjoy here."

Musical Criticism.com - 7 July 2009

                               Disc of the Month

" ... singers and orchestra negotiate the most complex ensembles in brilliantly idiomatic and conversational style ... the recorded sound is absolutely superb in its crystal clarity and depth. The ultimate winner in this excellent release, however, is Shostakovich. Now we can clearly see that he was never so obviously the youth genius"
Disc of the Month

BBC Music Magazine - 8 July 2009

                             Artistic Quality 10             Sound Quality 10

"Sergei Semishkur sings the role of the Nose, and he manages well with the clownishly high tessitura. Ivan is correctly puzzling as sung by Alexei Tanovitski. Indeed, the whole cast is marvelous if you’re looking for characterization and originality rather than lovely singing--this is theater at its most brazen.

Valery Gergiev, obviously in his element and with his own orchestra and  (spectacular) chorus, gives the work form and pathos while making certain that absurdity and satire reign supreme. This is, by the way, the first release on the Mariinsky label and it’s quite an auspicious start. Fabulous fun!"

Classics.Today.com - 17 September 2009

                          Choc de l’Année

Classica - 21 December 2009

                            CDs of the Year

Boston Globe (US) - 21 December 2009

                          CDs of the Year

Chicago Tribune - 21 December 2009

                              CDs of the Year

Washington Post (US) - 21 December 2009


                           Best Opera

 

 

Midem Classical Awards 2010



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