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Label:
  Mariinsky - http://www.mariinskylabel.com/
Serial:
  MAR0501 (2 discs)
Title:
  Shostakovich: The Nose - Gergiev
Description:
  Shostakovich: The Nose

Kirov Opera
Valery Gergiev (conductor)
Track listing:
 
Genre:
  Classical - Opera
Content:
  Stereo/Multichannel
Media:
  Hybrid
Recording type:
  DSD
Recording info:
 

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Related titles: 1


 
Reviews: 2

Site review by Castor June 1, 2009
Performance:   Sonics:    
The text for this review has been moved to the new site. You can read it here:

http://www.HRAudio.net/showmusic.php?title=5901#reviews

Review by willemvoorneveld June 20, 2012 (1 of 3 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:    
The satirical opera The Nose is the first of four (not three as mentioned in the booklet) Opera’s that Shostakovich would compose, and all of them are masterpieces and all 4 are very different. In this opera, unlike the other 3, tonality is almost non-existent. Very modern for the time (1928) and even today the score does not look and hear like a thing of the past. Still the music is not overly complicated although I hardly dare to confront visitors whom I do not know too well, with this music. The small Orchestra needs to work a lot and percussionists make overtime. In interlude 4, the team of percussionists have 3 minutes of their own in a brilliant solo. Most characters have an instrument and theme of their own, and maybe that is the cement that makes the Opera relatively easy to listen too (as my daughter described it) despite the lack of traditional melody.

I bought this SACD issue to replace my old Chant du Monde CD set under Rojdestvenski, who played this opera with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and soloists, and amongst them the very exiting Alexander Lomonossov as the Nose a.o.
Gergiev’s team is little less exiting and extreme but still very good. Different from Rojdestvenski , Gergiev slows down at unexpected moments in the first 3 scenes as if he wants extra attention for certain sections in the score, but in Act 3 he works towards an exciting finale without hesitation.

The booklet provided with the disc set contains a lot of interesting information.

Based on the information in the booklet the recording is made in the Concert Hall and not in the Mariinski Opera Theater and thus is no live recording but instead an old fashioned recording session. Very luxurious these days and you would think this must result in an optimal sound quality and indeed the sound is good but not as good as I had hoped for. The acoustic space I found not to be very clear and the resolution is not at the level of the best SACD’s around at the moment. Still good enough to fully enjoy the performance.

From the total of 101 minutes of opera, there are 8 minutes of pure irritation and that is in scene IV, where the team of sound technician’s have added a very unnatural digital sounding echo to mimic (I assume) the acoustics of the KAZAN Cathedral in which this scene is set. Totally unnecessary would be my vote. There is enough to enjoy though.

wv

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Works: 1  

Dmitri Shostakovich - The Nose