Search - Dmitry Shostakovich, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Valeri Polyansky :: Shostakovich - Moskva, Cheremushki, Op. 105

Early Glasnost

zaranda | Winnetka, CA United States | 04/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As accessible as "Entrance of the Gladiators", Moskva Chermushki came out of the so-called "Khrushchev Thaw" of the late 1950's. Indulging his penchant for put-on and burlesque, Shostakovich worked send-ups of Tchaikovsky, Glinka, Mussorgsky, Offenbach, von Flotow, around the unlikely premise of young Muscovites trying to find apartments--with a bit of Gilbert & Sullivanesque patter thrown in. A kids-out-of-school exuberance predominates and the composer's original lyric and Big Circus predilections are given full rein. There's the manic "Excursion Around Moscow"; a yearning account of a neighborhood called Tyopli Lane that could be out of "Ivan Susanin"; a campy, languorous tango-for-two that would somehow not be amiss at all in the ball scene of "Onegin". The performers are excellent. It's a great, tuneful romp--if sometimes a bit rinky-dink; possibly the perfect gift for the person who thinks he has everything."

Wonderful Shostakovich! Do not miss this.

Millie | Sydney Australia | 12/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a wonderful operetta! I was unaware of this music until I heard a track on local FM radio. I can't stop playing it! Very typical Shostakovich melodies and very recognisable, A most obvious Russian theme and full of fun, not to be taken too seriously - just enjoyed. Buy this well priced two disc set and you will not be disappointed. Wonderful singing and music throughout - every track is fantastic - I absolutely love it!!!!"

First recording of a unique work

L. Toth | Boston, MA USA | 08/09/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"You'd be hard-pressed to call this a 'musical comedy' in the Broadway sense, though that was Shostakovich's term. The music does share stylistic elements with musical theater, which for Shostakovich could perhaps be described as a 'dumbing down' of sorts. (How much exposure did he have to Broadway musicals? We know the 'Tea for Two' story...) This recording takes a decidedly operatic approach to the work. The libretto is offered in French, German, Russian and English, which is important because you'd be hard pressed to find translations of this work anywhere else. Cheremushki is a suburb of Moscow, created as a urban-renewal project. The story revolvs around young people who get displaced from their old city apartments, are promised apartments in the new community, but denied the keys by the corrupt managers. While as a Krushchev-era work of Shostakovich, the elements of political/social satire hold less intrigue than in works such as 'Katerina' or the 5th symphony, it nonetheless casts Shostakovich as a satirist, but not specifically anti-communist or pro-western."