The Nose (opera)

The Nose (??? in Russian, Nos in transliteration) is a satirical opera by Dmitri Shostakovich to a Russian libretto by the composer and others, based on a story with the same name by Nikolai Gogol. First performance: Maliy Opera Theatre, Leningrad, 18 January 1930.

Related Topics:
Transliteration - Satirical - Opera - Dmitri Shostakovich - Libretto - Same name - Nikolai Gogol - Maliy Opera Theatre - Leningrad - 18 January - 1930

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The opera tells the story of a St. Petersburg official whose nose leaves his face and develops a life of its own. It was written between 1927 and 1928. In 1929, the opera was criticised as "formalist" by RAPM, and it opened to generally poor reviews. After sixteen performances, it was not performed again in the Soviet Union until 1974, when it was revived by Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Boris Pokrovsky.

Related Topics:
St. Petersburg - Nose - 1927 - 1928 - Formalist - RAPM - 1974 - Gennady Rozhdestvensky - Boris Pokrovsky

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The music is a montage of different styles, including folk music, popular song and atonality. The apparent chaos is given structure by formal musical devices such as canons and quartets, a device copied from Alban Berg's Wozzeck.

Related Topics:
Montage - Folk music - Popular song - Atonality - Canon - Quartet - Alban Berg - Wozzeck

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