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The main complaint about this production is that there is not more of it. Part of Shostakovich's opera is left out, but what remains has a coherent dramatic impact, intensified by a heavy serving of graphically explicit, precisely choreographed sex and violence. This is a hybrid, like Petr Weigl's film of Donizetti's
Maria Stuarda, but more smoothly executed. It does not shift between spoken German and sung Italian like that curious, intriguing production, but Weigl has again taken an outstanding opera recording, cut it down, and used it as the soundtrack for a film, with Czech performers providing the visual dimension. It works more smoothly here than it did in
Maria Stuarda. The musical and theatrical performances are both extraordinary. The lip synchronization to the Russian text is not always precise, but the physical gestures coordinate with and visually reinforce the musical effects. The scenery, costumes, and atmosphere are realistic and convincing, and they add a compelling dimension to the experience.
Musically, this Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is not likely to be surpassed in the foreseeable future. It is not true, as the back cover says, that Shostakovich wrote the title role for Galina Vishnevskaya; she was not quite 10 years old when it was written. But she and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich became close friends of Shostakovich, and their recording, with a carefully picked cast, is a basic document on how this opera should sound. With the enormous capacity of DVD, it should have been possible to include the whole sound recording on a separate track. But what has been included is powerful. --Joe McLellan
Video Details
This opera in four acts by Dmitri Shostakovich is based on an original story by Nikolai S. Leskov written in 1865. The action takes place in Mtsensk immediately before the Revolution in October 1917. The Ismailov family are rich landowners and the household consists of Boris, who rules the house in a typically patriarchal manner, his weak son Zinovy, and Zinovy's wife Katerina. When Zinovy is away on business, Katherine starts an intense affair with the new farm hand Sergei which threatens their entire way of life in this powerful, passionate opera. This filmed opera by director Petr Weigl features the vocals of famed Russian soprano Galina Vishnevskaya as Katerina, a role written by Shostakovich expressly for her, and music conducted by her husband, Mstislav Rostropovich.
