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- Dmitri Shostakovich
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Op. 29 (1932)
- Schirmer Russian Music/Le Chant du Monde (World)
English translation by Edward Downes.
- 3.3.4.3/4.3.3.1/timp.perc.glock.xyl/2hp.cel.[org ad lib]/str; stage band: 2B-flat cnt, 2E-flat cnt, 2tpt, 2ahn, 2thn, 2barhn, 2b
- SATB chorus
- 2 high basses, 7 tenors, 3 sopranos, 8 basses, countertenor
- 2 hr 36 min
- Libretto by Alexander Preis and the composer after Nikolai Leskov's novel.
- English, Russian
Programme Note
The original version of Katerina Ismailova. The opera was violently attacked by Pravda and not revived in Russia until 1963, in a revised version, Lady Macbeth.
Full Scores available in two volumes from Hal Leonard:
Volume 1
Volume 2
Act I Leningrad/Gudauta/Batumi/Tbilisi, 14 October 1930 - 5 November 1931
1. Scene 1 ‘In the Izmailovs’ House’
2. Entr’acte (Largo)
3. Scene 2 ‘The Izmailovs’ Courtyard’
4. Entr’acte ‘Passacaglia’ (Allegro con brio)
5. Scene 3 ‘Katerina’s Bedroom’
Act II Leningrad/Moscow, 19 November 1931 - 8 March 1932
6. Scene 4 ‘The Izmailovs’ Courtyard at Night’
7. Entr’acte (Largo)
8. Scene 5 ‘Katerina’s Bedroom’
Act III Leningrad/Gaspra, 5 April - 15 August 1932
9. Scene 6 ‘The Ismailovs’ Garden before the Wedding’
10. Entr’acte (Allegretto)
11. Scene 7 ‘In the Police Station’
12. Entr’acte (Presto – Allegreto – Moderato – Presto – Moderato – Presto – Moderato – Adagio – Allegro – Presto
13. Scene 8 ‘The Wedding Feast in the Iszmailovs’ Garden’
Act IV Leningrad - 17 December 1932
14. Scene 9 ‘Convicts’ Camp on the Road to Siberia’
Full Scores available in two volumes from Hal Leonard:
Volume 1
Volume 2
Act I Leningrad/Gudauta/Batumi/Tbilisi, 14 October 1930 - 5 November 1931
1. Scene 1 ‘In the Izmailovs’ House’
2. Entr’acte (Largo)
3. Scene 2 ‘The Izmailovs’ Courtyard’
4. Entr’acte ‘Passacaglia’ (Allegro con brio)
5. Scene 3 ‘Katerina’s Bedroom’
Act II Leningrad/Moscow, 19 November 1931 - 8 March 1932
6. Scene 4 ‘The Izmailovs’ Courtyard at Night’
7. Entr’acte (Largo)
8. Scene 5 ‘Katerina’s Bedroom’
Act III Leningrad/Gaspra, 5 April - 15 August 1932
9. Scene 6 ‘The Ismailovs’ Garden before the Wedding’
10. Entr’acte (Allegretto)
11. Scene 7 ‘In the Police Station’
12. Entr’acte (Presto – Allegreto – Moderato – Presto – Moderato – Presto – Moderato – Adagio – Allegro – Presto
13. Scene 8 ‘The Wedding Feast in the Iszmailovs’ Garden’
Act IV Leningrad - 17 December 1932
14. Scene 9 ‘Convicts’ Camp on the Road to Siberia’
Media
Adagio [from Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District]
Reviews
The San Francisco Opera connected with the most exciting triumph of the fall season, a beautiful and inordinately powerful account of Shostakovich's operatic masterpiece, LADY MACBETH OF THE MTSENSK DISTRICT.
The score is one of Shostakovich's resourceful and sure-footed creations, a fluid and expertly controlled combination of instrumental brilliance an accessible vocal melody. To mount this scabrous melodrama about murder and passion, the company assembled a large cast and provided it with incisive artistic leadership. Schaaf's staging, at once energetic and respectful, catches the opera's various moods reliably, from chilling brutality to dark comedy. His production made its points with telling efficiency and a minimum of mannerism. Music director Donald Runnicles led a boldly outsized performance, with thrillingly vivid contributions from the Orchestra and Chorus.
For musical grandeur and dramatic force, it just doesn't get much better than this. The result was a performance of rare tenderness and muscle.
