Composer: Rodion Shchedrin
Performer: Edward Tsanga, Yekaterina Goncharova, Mikhail Latyshev, Kristina Alieva, Andrei Popov, Vladimir Moroz, Maria Maksakova, Alexander Timchenko, Varvara Solovyova, Vladimir Zhivopistsev, Dmitry Koleushko, Mariinsky Chorus
Orchestra: Mariinsky Orchestra
Conductor: Valéry Gergiev
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Mariinsky
Release: 2015
Size: 2.56 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
The Left-Hander
CD 01
01. The Winter Palace
02. Track length3:24$1.00
03. Ataman Platov’s Story
04. Inspection of the Armoury
05. The River Tulitsa
06. Buckingham Palace. Orchestral Interlude I
07. The Royal Presentation
08. Seven Turns of the Key. Orchestral Interlude II
09. The Flea
10. Arioso of Alexander I and Scena
11. Again in the Winter Palace (During the Reign of Tsar Nicholas I)
12. A village in Tula and the Left-Hander’s Rude Songs
13 .Ataman Platov Arrives in Tula
14. Ataman Platov Returns to Tula
15. The Journey from Tula to St Petersburg. Orchestral Interlude III
16. Ataman Platov and the Left-Hander Arrive at the Winter Palace
17. The Microscope Is Brought in. Orchestral Interlude IV
18. The English Flea Subjected to Russian Modification
19. Act One Finale
CD 02
01. The Left-Hander and the Flea at Buckingham Palace
02. The Russified Flea
03. Delighted English Question the Left-Hander
04. The English Brides (Love Canzonets)
05. Attempts at Persuasion
06. Know How. Orchestral Interlude V
07. How to Clean Your Musket?
08. A Vision of Russia
09. The Left-Hander Sets Sail for Russia
10 .The Storm. Orchestral Interlude VI
11. Return to St. Petersburg
12 .Final Scenes (Ordeal in the Infirmaries)
13. Epilogue
Specially written for Gergiev on the occasion of his 60th birthday, Rodion Shchedrin’s ‘The Left-Hander’ is a comedy of Russians and Englishmen, new technology, old traditions and strong drink. The premiere was given by the Mariinsky Opera in St Petersburg in July 2013.
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 classical satirical novella of 1881, ‘The Tale of Cross-Eyed Lefty From Tula and the Steel Flea’, ‘The Left-Hander’ is a gloriously wry exploration of Russia’s relationship with the West in general and England in particular. The work recently received its UK premiere and was met with great acclaim.