Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (opera)

Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (Леди Макбет Мценского уезда in Russian; Ledi Makbet Mtsenskogo Uyezda in transliteration) is an opera in four acts by the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Transliteration is the practice of Transcribing a Word or text written in one Writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich ( Russian: ru Дмитрий Дмитриевич Шостакович ( &ndash 9 August 1975 was a Russian Composer It sets a Russian libretto by Alexander Preis and the composer, inspired by and named after the famous story by Nikolai Leskov. A libretto is the text used in an extended Musical work such as an Opera, Operetta, Masque, sacred or secular Oratorio and Alexander Preis (Александр Прыс was a Russian writer of numerous plays and libretti including those for Shostakovich 's operas The Nose Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (Леди Макбет Мценского уезда is a 1865 Novel of the Russian writer Nikolai Leskov Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (Николай Семёнович Лесков &mdash) was a Russian Journalist, Novelist and short story Writer The opera is sometimes referred to informally as Lady Macbeth when there is no confusion with Verdi's Macbeth. Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei It was first performed on 22 January 1934 at the Leningrad Maly Operny. Events 565 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Mikhaylovsky Theatre ( Mikhailovsky, as stated on the official website Михайловский театр) is one of the oldest Opera and Shostakovich dedicated the opera to his first wife, the physicist Nina Varzar. Physics (Greek Physis - φύσις in everyday terms is the Science of Matter and its motion.

The work incorporates elements of expressionism and verismo. Expressionism is the tendency of an artist to distort reality for an Emotional effect it is a subjective art form Verismo (meaning "realism" from Italian vero, meaning "truth" was an Italian literary movement born approximately between 1875 and 1895 It tells the story of a lonely woman in 19th century Russia, who falls in love with one of her husband's workers and is driven to murder.

Despite great early success, on both popular and official levels, Lady Macbeth was the vehicle for a general denunciation of Shostakovich's music by the Communist Party in early 1936. Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich ( Russian: ru Дмитрий Дмитриевич Шостакович ( &ndash 9 August 1975 was a Russian Composer After being condemned by an anonymous article (sometimes attributed to Stalin) in Pravda, the Communist Party newspaper, it was banned in the Soviet Union for almost thirty years. Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Pravda (Правда "The Truth" was a leading Newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Many people thus know the opera primarily for its role in the history of censorship. Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable harmful or sensitive as determined by a censor

The composer later revised the opera; as Op. 114, it has two new entr’actes, a major revision to Act 1 Scene 3, and some smaller changes elsewhere. Entr'acte is French for "between the acts" (German Zwischenspiel, Italian Intermezzo) The revised version was first performed, renamed Katerina Izmailova, on 26 December 1962 in Moscow at the Stanislavsky-Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre (Московский Академический Музыкальный Театримени народных артистов Shostakovich preferred the revised version, but since his death the original version, Op. 29, possibly with some early revisions, is more often performed.

1 Roles
2 Synopsis
3 Critical reactions
4 Notes
5 Further reading

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast, 22 January 1934 (Conductor: - )
Boris Timofeyevich Izmailov, a Merchant	baritone
Zinoviy Borisovich Izmailov, his son	tenor
Katerina Lvovna Izmailova, wife of Zinoviy Borisovich	soprano
Sergei, a workman employed at the Izmailovs	tenor
Aksinya, a workwoman employed at the Izmailovs	soprano
Tattered peasant (Village Drunk)	baritone
Workman, employed at the Izmailovs	tenor
Steward, a workman employed at the Izmailovs	bass
Porter, a workman employed at the Izmailovs	bass
First Workman, employed at the Izmailovs	tenor
Second Workman, employed at the Izmailovs	tenor
Priest	bass
Police Inspector	bass
Local Nihilist	tenor
Policeman	bass
Old Convict	bass
Sonyetka, a convict	contralto
A female convict	soprano
Sergeant	bass
Sentry	bass
Ghost of Boris Timofeevich	bass
Chorus: basses; Workpeople employed at the Izmailovs; Wedding guests; Policemen; male and female convicts

Synopsis

Act 1

Scene 1: Katerina's room

Katerina is unhappily married to Zinovy, a provincial merchant. This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. The tenor is the highest male voice within the Modal register, just above the Baritone voice This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. She complains to herself of her loneliness. Her father-in-law Boris says it is her fault for not producing an heir, but she blames her husband Zinovy for not being able to make her love him. Zinovy is called away on business, and Boris makes Katerina swear to be faithful. A servant, Aksinya, tells Katerina about the womanising new farm hand, Sergei.

Scene 2: The Ismailovs' yard

Sergei and his comrades have been teasing Aksinya. Katerina confronts him; they wrestle; she is thrown. When Boris appears, she says that she tripped.

Scene 3: Katerina's room

Katerina goes to bed. Sergei comes to borrow a book, then embraces her, and they make love.

Act 2

Scene 4: The yard

One night a week later, Boris sees Sergei climbing out of Katerina's window. He catches him and whips him as a thief, then has him locked up. Katerina gives Boris some poisoned mushrooms and as he is dying retrieves the keys to free Sergei.

Scene 5: Katerina's room

Katerina and Sergei are together. After he falls asleep, she sees Boris' ghost. Later she hears Zinovy returning. Although Sergei hides, Zinovy sees his clothing and guesses the truth. Together Katerina and Sergei kill Zinovy.

Act 3

Scene 6: Near the cellar

Katerina and Sergei prepare to get married. A peasant finds Zinovy's body in the cellar and goes to fetch the police.

Scene 7: The police station

The police complain about not being invited to the wedding. The peasant arrives and gives them the opportunity for revenge.

Scene 8: The Ismailov garden

Everyone is drunk at the wedding. Katerina sees that the cellar door is open, but the police arrive as she and Sergei are trying to escape.

Act 4

Scene 9. A temporary convict camp near a bridge

On the way to Siberia, Katerina bribes a guard to allow her to meet Sergei. He blames her for everything. After she leaves, Sergei tries to seduce another convict, Sonyetka. She demands a pair of stockings as her price. Sergei tricks Katerina into giving him hers, whereupon he gives them to Sonyetka. Sonyetka and the other convicts taunt Katerina, who pushes Sonyetka into a river and jumps in herself. They are swept away and the convict train moves on.

Critical reactions

One criticism of the work focused on its sexual content, particularly the way in which the action is depicted in the music. The music critic of the New York Sun called it "pornophony" (Taruskin), while Stravinsky described the opera as "lamentably provincial", considering the musical portrayal primitively realistic ^[1]. The Sun was a New York newspaper that was published from 1833 until 1950 Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский) ( &ndash 6 April 1971 was a Russian born Composer, considered by many to

The thrust of the Pravda criticism was in terms of morality; it condemned the opera's sympathetic portrayal of the murderess. This criticism was revived by Taruskin in his 1989 article, where he interprets the work as "a justification of genocide". Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) Daniil Zhitomirsky accuses the work of "primitive satire" in its treatment of the priest and police, but acknowledges the "incredible force" of the last scene ^[1]

At the time, the composer justified the sympathetic portrayal of Katerina in Soviet terms, saying she was a victim of the circumstances of oppressive, pre-revolutionary Russia. ^[1]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c Wilson, page 96

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