The Golden Age (Shostakovich)

The Golden Age (or The Age of Gold) (Russian: Золотой век, Zolotoi vek), Op. 22, is a ballet in three acts and six scenes by Dmitri Shostakovich with libretto by Alexander Ivanovsky. It premiered in 1930 at the Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet (Kirov Theatre).^[1] Choreographers: Vasili Vainonen - the first act,^[2] Leonid Jacobson - the second act,^[3] V.Chesnakov - the third act.

The premiere took place in October 1930 at the Mariinsky Theatre (Theatre Kirov of Leningrad). It was performed eighteen times^[4] The work was initially censored due to its inclusion of modern European dance styles.^[5]

Plot

The ballet is a satirical take on the political and cultural change in 1920s' Europe. It follows a Soviet football team in a Western city where they come into contact with many politically incorrect bad characters (the Diva, the Fascist, the Agent Provocateur, the Negro and others). The team fall victim to match rigging, police harassment, and unjust imprisonment by the evil bourgeoisie. The team are freed from jail when the local workers overthrow their capitalist overlords and the ballet ends with a dance of solidarity between the workers and the football team.

Instrumentation

Woodwinds: 2 flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (2nd doubling cor anglais), 3 clarinets (2nd doubling Eb clarinet, 3rd doubling bass clarinet), 2 saxophones, 2 bassoons (2nd doubling double bassoon)

Brass: 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, euphonium, tuba

Percussion: timpani, triangle, woodblock, tambourine, flexatone, ratchet, snare drums, cymbals, bass drum, tam-tam, xylophone, bayan, harmonium.

Strings: violins, violas, cellos, double basses, banjo.

Suite

Shostakovich extracted a suite from the ballet, Op. 22a. It has four movements:

1. Introduction (Allegro non troppo)
2. Adagio
3. Polka (Allegretto)
4. Danse

He also arranged the Polka for solo piano (Op. 22b) and piano for four hands (Op. 22c), in 1935 and 1962 respectively.

The second edition

In 1982, Yuri Grigorovich and Isaak Glikman revived the ballet with a new libretto. Grigorovich also chose to integrate other works of Shostakovich into the score.^[6]

They moved the action to the USSR in the 1920s to a restaurant called The Golden Age. Conflict unfolded between the Soviet Komsomol and the gang.

The premiere was held 4 November 1982 in Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre.

The third edition

In 2006, the playwright Konstantin Uchitel wrote a new libretto for the same music.^[4] The action takes place in our time. Old man and old woman met and remember his youth and his love.

The premiere took place on 28 June 2006 at the Mariinsky Theatre.^[5]

References

Dmitri Shostakovich Operas The Nose Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District Moscow, Cheryomushki Katerina Ismailova Orango Ballets The Golden Age The Bolt The Limpid Stream ("The Bright Stream") Symphonies No. 1 in F minor No. 2 in B major ("To October") No. 3 in E♭ major ("The First of May") No. 4 in C minor No. 5 in D minor No. 6 in B minor No. 7 in C major ("Leningrad") No. 8 in C minor No. 9 in E♭ major No. 10 in E minor No. 11 in G minor ("The Year 1905") No. 12 in D minor ("The Year 1917") No. 13 in B♭ minor ("Babi-Yar") No. 14 in G minor No. 15 in A major Concertos Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor Violin Concerto No. 2 in C♯ minor Cello Concerto No. 1 in E♭ major Cello Concerto No. 2 in G major Orchestra works Suite from "The Nose" Suite from "The Golden Age" Suite from "The Bolt" Suite from "The Limpid Stream" Suite from "Encounter at the Elbe" ("Meeting on the Elbe") Suite from "The Gadfly" Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1' Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 2 Suite for Variety Orchestra Tahiti Trot "Festive Overture" in A major for Orchestra "Novorossiisk Chimes, the Flame of Eternal Glory" for Orchestra Film music The New Babylon Alone Golden Mountains Counterplan The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda The Youth of Maxim Girl Friends The Return of Maxim The Vyborg Side Friends The Great Citizen Zoya Simple People The Young Guard Pirogov Michurin Meeting on the Elbe The Fall of Berlin Belinsky The Unforgettable Year 1919 The Gadfly Five Days, Five Nights Sofiya Perovskaya Hamlet King Lear Vocal music Anti-Formalist Rayok Song of the Forests Suite on Finnish Themes From Jewish Folk Poetry Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti Chamber music String quartets No. 1 in C major No. 2 in A major No. 3 in F major No. 4 in D major No. 5 in B♭ major No. 6 in G major No. 7 in F♯ minor No. 8 in C minor No. 9 in E♭ major No. 10 in A♭ major No. 11 in F minor No. 12 in D♭ major No. 13 in B♭ minor No. 14 in F♯ major No. 15 in E♭ minor Other Cello Sonata in D minor Piano Quintet in G minor Piano Trio No. 1 in C minor Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor Quartet Movement in E♭ major (c. 1960s) Viola Sonata Violin Sonata Piano music Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor Twenty-Four Piano Preludes and Fugues "Children's Notebook" (6) Three Fantastic Dances Related articles List of compositions by Dmitri Shostakovich Muddle Instead of Music Leningrad première of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 Shostakovich v. Twentieth Century-Fox Testimony The War Symphonies: Shostakovich Against Stalin Post-romanticism Neoclassicism Portal:Classical music

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