Shostakovich 3

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Shostakovich 3

• Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District

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Background

• In 1930 Shostakovich together with the young
  writer Alexander Pries wrote the libretto for
  Lady Macbeth from a short story of the same title
  by Nikolia Leskov.
• The plot is very much that of the story with a
  few alterations.

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Context

• 1930-32 a time of galloping industrialisation
  under the 5-year plan. Collectivisation of
  farming and deportation of Kulaks.
• In the arts the former plurality of arts were
  being replaced by stranglehold of proletarian
  organisations.
• All arts had to be relevant.
• Appeared in an atmosphere of disinformation
  censorship and fear.
• Leskov already known and deemed progressive.

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More background

• Period one of happiness for Shostakovich lots
  of work and prosperity courtship of Nina Varzar
  who he married in 1932.
• Shostakovich altered the tale to leave behind
  the impression of Katerina as a positive
  personality. Her musical personality is the most
  lyrical. The others are all parody style
  developed from music-hall and cabaret
  entertainments. Low-art verses high-art.
  Tragedy satire all directed at the evils of the
  hated bourgeois past.

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Socialist Realism

• The new mantra for all arts after Maxim Gorkys
  speech at the All Union Congress of Soviet
  Writers in 1934.
• The satire on the security services perceived in
  the police station scene was seen by all
  including Stalin who thought the police chief was
  him.
• Also power of love and passion was upper most in
  his mind dedicated to Nina. A tale of love
  overpowering social norms.

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Changes

• The opera is full of risque characters,
  ruggedness, rough language, erotic illusions, etc
  and music that matched expressive stridencies,
  exaggerations in part writing , dissonances,
  syncopations, etc.
• All these supposed crudities were removed in many
  re-writes over 30 years.
• Although first performed in 1932 it was not
  published until 1935 and by then censorship had
  got to work on it.
• there is the impulsive original that caused the
  scandal and later versions including the
  published version of 1935.

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Lots of Versions

• there is the impulsive original that caused the
  Thus scandal and later versions including the
  published version of 1935. (in Vienna, Universal
  Editions and Moscow).
• For example the string passacaglia between the
  fourth and fifth scenes was replaced by a
  moderate version played by the organ.
• In 1963 the composer submitted a complete new
  revision calling the work Katerina Ismailova in
  order to bring it out in Russia.
• The productions were and are very different and
  many different interpretations are possible

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Characters

• It takes place in a small provincial town in the
  1860s in Russia.
• Katerina is the bored, young wife a provincial
  merchant Zinovi she hates her husband, has no
  children, and loaves housework. She is bored.
• Zinovi Izmailov is reproachful of her wife for
  not producing an heir after 5 years. He is well
  off and over busy with his business.

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Characters

• Boris Tomofeyevich is an old but lustful
  father-in-law who coverts Katerinas body.
  Father of Zinovi
• Aksinya the household cook
• Sergei- a young worker hounded from his job
  following an affair with his previous employers
  wife.
• Lots of other minor parts foremen,
  servants, convicts, Boriss ghost, priest,
  policeman, teacher, drunken guest

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Act 1

• Zinovi is going off servants snigger, Boris
  berates Katerina for not producing a son.
  Katerina swears to be faithful in his absence.
  Sergei is introduced by Cook.
• 2 Labourers led by Sergei are molesting Aksinya
  Katerina defends the cook and challenges Sergei
  to a trail of strength as Boris intervenes.
• 3. Boris watches Katerina. Katerina is bored
  Sergei on pretence of wanting books to borrow
  forces his way into her room and they consummate
  their passion.

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Act 2

• Boris is tormented by sleeplessness he decides to
  perform his sons marital duties. At that moment
  Sergei crawls out of Katerinas window, and Boris
  beats him senseless in the presence of the family
  household. Sergei is then looked in the
  storeroom.
• Katerina is ordered to bring Boris mushrooms
  which she poisons.

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Act 2

• As Boris dies in pain she takes the key and gets
  Sergei out.
• Katerina then sleeps with Boris but is
  tormented by conscience. The ghost of Boris
  appears and curses her. Zinovi returns and calls
  her to account.
• Sergei and Katerina murder him and put his body
  in the cellar.

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Act 3

• Katerina is marrying Sergei, Zinovi having been
  declared missing. She keeps on looking at the
  cellar.
• While all are a church a Peasant breaks into the
  cellar and finds the corpse and goes for the
  police. At the station the police are offended at
  not being invited. They are persecuting a
  teacher on getting the news they set off for
  the wedding. In the celebrations Katerina
  discovers the broken lock on the cellar it is
  too late to escape and the lovers are arrested.

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Act 4

• Katerina and Sergei have been found guilty and
  are on their way to a labour camp in Siberia.
  Men and women are separated but Katerina bribes
  a sentry to see Sergei. He reproaches her for
  being cause. She has lost all her attractions
  for him and he tries to win another convict girl
  over Sonyetka. She demands stockings which he
  gets from Katerina who finds out and pushes
  Sonyeka in a river and jumps in after her and
  both are drowned. The convicts are marches away.

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Musical Characterisation

• Each character has its own musical
  characteristics which reoccur when they return or
  are evoked. Generally the musical idea is to a
  mood of state of mind associated with a character
  rather than to a character as such, somewhat in
  the manner of a Janacek opera.