23 January 2020 (Thu), 19:00 Chamber Stage Boris Pokrovsky Theatre on Nikolskaya Street - Opera Dmitri Shostakovich "The Nose" Opera in two acts
Running time: 2 hours (till 21:00)
Schedule for Dmitri Shostakovich "The Nose" Opera in two acts 2022
Conductor: Alexei Vereshchagin Tenor: Pyotr Melentyev Stage Director: Andrei Tsvetkov-Tolbin Bass: Alexei Smirnov Soprano: Tatiana Fedotova Tenor: Alexei Sulimov Bass: Anatoly Zakharov Bass: Kirill Filin Soprano: Olga Burmistrova Tenor: Mikhail Yanenko Tenor: Sergei Ostroumov
Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich
Opera in 2 acts
Premiere of this production: 12 September 1974, Chamber Stage of Bolshoi Ballet and Opera theatre, Moscow, Russia
Libretto by, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Georgy Ionin, Alexander Preis and Dmitri Shostakovich based on the novel of the same name by Nikolai Gogol
Stage Director: Boris Pokrovsky
Music Director: Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Designer: Viktor Talalay
Choreographer: Lilia Talankina
Synopsis
Act 1
Prologue
St Petersburg. Kovalev, a Collegiate Assessor is being shaved by Ivan Yakovlevich (a barber). He is one of Yakovlevich's regular customers.
The next morning, Yakovlevich finds a nose in his bread. His wife, believing he has cut off one of his customers' noses, requests him to dispose of it. He tries to dispose of it in the street, but is foiled by running into people he knows, then he throws it into the Neva River, but he is seen by a police officer and taken away for questioning. Meanwhile, Kovalyov wakes and finds his nose missing. His first reaction is disbelief, then shock, and he sets out to find it. He later sees his nose praying in the Kazan Cathedral, now the size of a human being. Since the nose has acquired a higher rank (State Councillor) than he, it refuses to have any dealings with him, and leaves.
In his search, Kovalyov finds himself at the Chief of Police's apartment, but he is not at home. Next he visits the newspaper office to place an advertisement about the loss of his nose, where they are dealing with a missing dog. After explaining his loss, his request is refused on the grounds of the newspaper's reputation. Upon demonstrating his loss, the clerk suggests he tell his story. Kovalyov feels insulted and leaves.
He returns to his apartment, where his servant is playing the balalaika, he dismisses him and wallows in self-pity.
Act 2
The police take up the search. A group of policemen are at a railway station, in order to prevent the nose from escaping, where an inspector rallies them. The nose runs in and tries to stop the train, and a general pursuit ensues, resulting in its capture. The nose is then beaten into its normal size, wrapped and returned to Kovalyov by the inspector, but Kovalyov is unable to reattach it. Nor can a doctor. He then suspects that he has been placed under a spell by a woman called Madame Podtochina, because he would not marry her daughter. He writes to ask her to undo the spell, but she misinterprets the letter as a proposal to her daughter. She convinces him that she is innocent. In the city, crowds fuelled by rumours gather in search of the nose till the police restore order.
Epilogue
Kovalyov wakes up with his nose reattached, and dances a polka in joy. Yakovlevich has been released from prison and arrives to shave him. Afterwards Kovalyov wanders along Nevsky Prospekt greeting acquaintances, while people discuss the story.
Schedule for Dmitri Shostakovich "The Nose" Opera in two acts 2022
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