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 to a libretto by Alexander Ivanovsky. Choreographed by Vasili Vainonen (first act),^[1] Leonid Jacobson (second act),^[2] and V. Chesnakov (third act), it premiered on 26 October 1930 at the Kirov Theatre.^[3]

The work was performed eighteen times^[4] and was initially censored due to its inclusion of modern European dance styles.^[5]

Plot summary

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 such as 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 (accordion), harmonium.

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

Suite

Shostakovich extracted a suite from the ballet, Op. 22a, in 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 four hands (Op. 22c), in 1935 and 1962 respectively.

Revivals

In 1982, Yury Grigorovich and Isaak Glikman revived the ballet with a new libretto. Grigorovich also chose to integrate other works of Shostakovich into the score.^[6] In 1983, he created The Golden Age for Irek Mukhamedov, who defined the role of Boris, the young workers' leader, for successive generations of Bolshoi dancers. 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 took place on 4 November 1982 in Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre.

In 2006, the playwright Konstantin Uchitel wrote a new libretto for the same music.^[4] The action was set in our time. Old man and old woman meet and remember their youth. The premiere took place on 28 June 2006 at the Mariinsky Theatre.^[5]

References

Dmitri Shostakovich Operas and operetta Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District Moscow, Cheryomushki The Nose Orango The Big Lightning (unfinished) The Twelve Chairs (unfinished) The Gamblers (unfinished) Ballets The Bolt The Golden Age The Limpid 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 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 Orchestral 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 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 The Execution of Stepan Razin From Jewish Folk Poetry Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok Song of the Forests Suite on Finnish Themes Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti The Sun Shines over Our Motherland 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 Twenty-Four Piano Preludes and Fugues Children's Notebook (6) Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor Three Fantastic Dances Named for Shostakovich 2669 Shostakovich London Shostakovich Orchestra Shostakovich Peninsula Related articles List of compositions by Dmitri Shostakovich DSCH motif Leningrad première of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 Literaturoper Maxim Shostakovich Muddle Instead of Music Neoclassicism Post-romanticism Shostakovich v. Twentieth Century-Fox Testimony The War Symphonies: Shostakovich Against Stalin Wihuri Sibelius Prize Portal:Classical music