Shostakovich: The Nose

Mariinsky Soloists (Vlasislav Sulimsky, Alexei Tanovitski, Tatiana Kravtsova, Andrei Popov, Sergei Semishkur, Gennnady Bezzubenkov, Vadim Kravets, Sergei Skorokhodov, Yevgeny Strashko, Elena Vitman, Zhanna Dombrovskaya), Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Valery Gergiev

Dmitri Shostakovich: The Nose

Dmitri Shostakovich’s satirical opera The Nose was premiered in 1930 and is set in St Petersburg. Based on a short story by Nikolai Gogol, 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 desperation, 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 over 80 characters) and its spiky score is a 1920’s modernist masterpiece from the prodigiously talented composer.

Price: $39.98