Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

　　Editorial Reviews
　　
　　Amazon.com essential recording
　　Written between 1930 and 1932, The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk was one of the most brilliant achievements of Shostakovich's long career. It was also the work that got him into trouble with Stalin. When the Soviet leader attended a performance in Moscow in 1936, almost two years after the opera's acclaimed Leningrad premiere, he p... (展开全部) 　　Editorial Reviews
　　
　　Amazon.com essential recording
　　Written between 1930 and 1932, The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk was one of the most brilliant achievements of Shostakovich's long career. It was also the work that got him into trouble with Stalin. When the Soviet leader attended a performance in Moscow in 1936, almost two years after the opera's acclaimed Leningrad premiere, he personally ordered the publication of a scathing article in Pravda ("Muddle Instead of Music"), unleashing a ruthless campaign to reduce the arts in Soviet Russia to a state of dogmatic subservience to the regime. Lady Macbeth would disappear from the repertory for 30 years, and Shostakovich, despite his great gifts for opera, would focus his attention on symphonic and chamber music instead. But what an opera this one was! Notwithstanding its title, it has nothing to do with Shakespeare's Macbeth and quite a lot to do with Dostoevsky (even though it's based on a story by another 19th-century writer, Nikolai Laskov). The plot has all the elements of a Russian epic--boredom, need, irresistible sexual longing, infidelity, murder, suicide--and the music is vintage Shostakovich, swinging between farce and tragedy with astonishing sureness, magnificently intense, deeply absorbing, yet approachable. The opera's climactic scenes are driven by music of incredible power, and there are pages of haunting lyric beauty as well, such as Katarina's aria in scene 3, or the extraordinary music that begins the love scene between Katarina and Sergey--mysterious, edgy, sensuous, and vast. It's all brought home on this recording, a labor of love from two of the composer's closest friends and greatest champions. Vishnevskaya, the great exponent of the role of Katarina, sings with untrammeled splendor, while Rostropovich, the supreme interpreter of the music of Shostakovich in our time, conducts a characterful, white-hot performance by the London Philharmonic. --Ted Libbey　　

　　Disc 1
　　 • Act One, Scene One: Akh, Nye Spitsa Bol'she, Poprobuyu - Galina Vishnevskaya
　　 • Act One, Scene One: V Dyevkakh Luchshe Bylo - Galina Vishnevskaya
　　 • Act One, Scene One: Gribki Sevodnya Budut? - Galina Vishnevskaya
　　 • Act One, Scene One: Prigotov Otravu Dlya Krys - Galina Vishnevskaya
　　 • Act One, Scene One: Govori!... Plotinu-to Na - Leslie Fyson
　　 • Act One, Scene One: Proshchay, Katerina - Werner Krenn
　　 • Act One, Scene One: Chevo Vstal? Chevo Ostanovilsa? - Dimiter Petkov
　　 • Act One, Scene One: Interlude - London Philharmonic Orchestra
　　 • Act One, Scene Two: A! Ay! Ay! - John McCarthy
　　 • Act One, Scene Two: Barynya!... Ay!... Shto S Toboyu? - Robert Tear
　　 • Act One, Scene Two: A Nu-s, Pozvol'te Ruku-s - Robert Tear
　　 • Act One, Scene Two: Interlude - London Philharmonic Orchestra
　　 • Act One, Scene Three: Spat' Pora. Dyen Proshol - Galina Vishnevskaya
　　 • Act One, Scene Three: Zherebyonok K Kobylke Toropitsa - Galina Vishnevskaya
　　 • Act One, Scene Three: Kto Eto, Kto, Kto Stuchit? - Nicolai Gedda
　　 • Act One, Scene Three: Ya Poydu... Proshchay - Nicolai Gedda
　　 • Act Two, Scene Four: Shto Znachit Starost' - Dimiter Petkov
　　 • Act Two, Scene Four: Pod Oknami U Chzuhikh - Dimiter Petkov
　　 • Act Two, Scene Four: Proshchay, Katya, Proshchay! - John McCarthy
　　 • Act Two, Scene Four: Ustal... Prikazhete Mnye Postegat'? - Galina Vishnevskaya
　　 • Act Two, Scene Four: V Kladovuyu Sergeya Zaperli - Galina Vishnevskaya
　　 • Act Two, Scene Four: Vidno, Skoro Uzh Zarya - John McCarthy
　　 • Act Two, Scene Four: Batya, Ispovyedatsa - Dimiter Petkov
　　 • Act Two, Scene Four: Akh, Boris Timofeyevich - Galina Vishnevskaya
　　 • Act Two, Scene Four: Interlude - London Philharmonic Orchestra
　　
　　 Disc 2
　　 • Act Two, Scene Five: Sergey, Seryozha! - Nicolai Gedda
　　 • Act Two, Scene Five: Katya, Prikhodit Konyets Lyubvi Nashey - Nicolai Gedda
　　 • Act Two, Scene Five: Nye Pechal'sa, Sergey - Nicolai Gedda
　　 • Act Two, Scene Five: Opyat Usnul - Galina Vishnevskaya
　　 • Act Two, Scene Five: Nu? Chevo Tebye? - Nicolai Gedda
　　 • Act Two, Scene Five: Slushay, Sergey, Sergey! - Nicolai Gedda
　　 • Act Two, Scene Five: Katerina!... Kto Tam? - Werner Krenn
　　 • Act Two, Scene Five: Tepyer Shabash - Nicolai Gedda
　　 • Act Three, Scene Six: Shto Ty Tut Shoish? - Nicolai Gedda
　　 • Act Three, Scene Six: U Menya Byla Kuma - Robert Tear
　　 • Act Three, Scene Six: Interlude - London Philharmonic Orchestra
　　 • Act Three, Scene Six: Sozdan Politseysky Byl Vo Vremya Ono - Leslie Fyson
　　 • Act Three, Scene Six: U Izmaylovoy Seychas Pir Goroy - Martyn Hill
　　 • Act Three, Scene Six: Vashe Blagorodie!... Chevo Tebye? - Leslie Fyson
　　 • Act Three, Scene Six: Intelrude - London Philharmonic Orchestra
　　 • Act Three: Scene Eight: Slava Suprugam - John McCarthy
　　 • Act Three: Scene Eight: Shto Takoe?... Zamok Sorvan - John McCarthy
　　 • Act Three: Scene Eight: Shto Takoe? Pozdno! - Leslie Fyson
　　 • Act Four: Scene Nine: Vyorsty Odna Za Drugoy - John McCarthy
　　 • Act Four: Scene Nine: Stepanych! Propusti Menya - Nicolai Gedda
　　 • Act Four: Scene Nine: Nye Lekhko Posle Pochota Da Poklonov - Galina Vishnevskaya
　　 • Act Four: Scene Nine: Moyo Pochtyenye! - Birgit Finnila
　　 • Act Four: Scene Nine: Ladno Dostanu! - Nicolai Gedda
　　 • Act Four: Scene Nine: Na Chulki! Idyom, Tepyer Ty Moya! - John McCarthy
　　 • Act Four: Scene Nine: V Lesu, V Samoy Chashche Yest' Ozero - Galina Vishnevskaya
　　 • Act Four: Scene Nine: Znaesh Li, Sonyetka - Birgit Finnila
　　 • Act Four: Scene Nine: Vstavay! Po Mestam! Zhivo - Leslie Fyson
　　 • Act Four: Scene Nine: Akh!... Bozhe Moy! Shto Takoe? - Leslie Fyson