Загрузка ...The UK premiere of Shchedrin’s witty new comedy of Anglo-Russian misunderstanding, performed by the team that gave its premiere in 2013.
Rodion Shchedrin’s The Lefthander is a comedy of Russians and Englishmen, new technology, old traditions, and strong drink. Specially written for Gergiev and the Mariinsky – who gave its premiere in July 2013 – this is the first UK performance of this wickedly funny satire in the tradition of Gogol and Shostakovich.
After Boris Godunov, Valery Gergiev and his Mariinsky forces present a Russian opera from the opposite extreme of the Russian soul. Rodion Shchedrin is one of music’s greatest living humourists, and his work is laced with pitch-black irony and deadpan wit. Based on Nikolai Leskov’s classic satirical novella of 1881, The Tale of Cross-Eyed Lefty From Tula and the Steel Flea, The Lefthander is a gloriously wry exploration of Russia’s relationship with the West in general and England in particular — so it’s wonderfully appropriate that it’s receiving its Western European premiere here at the Barbican.
Programme & Performers
Rodion Shchedrin Levsha (The Left-Hander)
The Tale of the Cross-Eyed Left-Hander from Tula
(UK Premiere)
Mariinsky Opera
Valery Gergiev conductor
Andrei Popov The Left-Hander
Edward Tsanga Ataman Platov
Vladimir Moroz Tsar Alexander I / Tsar Nikolai I
Kristina Alieva The Flea
Maria Maksakova Princess Charlotte
Andrei Spekhov English Under-Skipper