# Masterpiece Theatre: Part Eleven - Shostakovich's The Age of Gold



## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

Masterpiece Theatre: Part Eleven - Shostakovich's _The Age of Gold_


















The first and the best of Shostakovich's three ballets was The Age of Gold. Conceived in the artistic ferment of '20s Leningrad, when the avant-garde and the proletariat were united in their opposition to fascism and the bourgeoisie, Shostakovich's score occupies a middle ground between the unrelenting modernism of his Second and Third Symphonies (1927 and 1929) and the light music populism of the Tahiti Trot (1927) and the Hypothetically Murdered (1931).

Originally entitled Dyamiadia and based on an outline by the film director Alexander Ivanovsky, the story of the ballet is, in its essence, a confrontation between the young, vigorous, and healthy communist state embodied in a Soviet football team and the sickly and decadent capitalist state embodied in the inhabitants of the Western city the team is visiting. As Shostakovich wrote in the program book of the first performance (October 27, 1930):

"Throwing into contrast the two cultures was my main aim in the ballet. I approached this task in the following way: the West European dances breathe the spirit of depraved eroticism which is characteristic of contemporary bourgeois culture, but I tried to imbue the Soviet dances with the wholesome elements of sport and physical culture.... I strove to write music that was not only easy to dance to, but that was dramatically tense and underwent symphonic development."

Shostakovich succeeded in his goal: the characterization of the two cultures could not be more distinct. However, Shostakovich does at times seem more attracted by the possibilities of the Western forms he is ostensibly parodying than in the aerobics of the soccer team. The "jazz" numbers in the first two acts -- the foxtrot and the infamous "Tahiti Trot" -- seem far more musically interesting than anything else in those acts. And the symphonic elements of the score -- the soulful Adagio in the Act I and the whole of Act III -- are more vital and powerful than the climactic Football match of Act II.

Apparently, Shostakovich succeeded insofar as his audience was concerned: The Age of Gold ran for 18 performances over two years. The ballet was savaged by proletarian critics and Shostakovich, while he was satisfied with his music, was disgruntled by the libretto and the dancing. In the future, he vowed to work only on projects he considered artistically valid. The Age of Gold remains Shostakovich's best composed and most aesthetically successful ballet.

[Article taken from All Music Guide]

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Probably my favorite Shostakovich ballet, although _The Bolt_ is quite good, too, but _The Age of Gold_ has more memorable parts throughout the duration of the piece. It is a bit long, but so is Tchaikovsky's _Swan Lake_ and Prokofiev's _Romeo & Juliet_. Anyway, there have been a number of recordings of the complete ballet of _The Age of Gold_, but I would say my favorite is José Serebrier's on Naxos (w/ the Royal Scottish National Orchestra). The Rozhdestvensky is quite good, too. There have been several recordings of just the suite and I would say that Kitajenko's on Capriccio is the best one I've heard.

Anyway, what do you guys think of this work? Any favorite moments?


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Greatly enjoy both Age of Gold and the Bolt....this is "early" Shostakovich - pre Lady Macbeth and his problems with the Great Leader and Teacher, the "Steel Man".
Very colorful, flamboyant orchestration...really quite fascinating...lots of rousing numbers...but some lovely and telling slow movements as well...the plots of both ballets are pretty stupid, insipid...supposedly DS had to portray the differences between the decadent, materialistic West, frittering away its time on useless, wasteful pursuits, as opposed to the altogether wholesome, productive values of the Proletarian Revolution []...Jazz elements were employed to display the fruitless time-wasting of the decadent West....I don't know how much DS really bought into this stripe, but it doesn't matter - the music is most enjoyable and colorful - quite a contrast with his post "Lady Macbeth" works, which take on a much darker, more serious tone...
Rozhd'sky/Royal Stockholm recorded both complete ballets on Chandos - fine performances is in excellent sound...


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

Heck148 said:


> Greatly enjoy both Age of Gold and the Bolt....this is "early" Shostakovich - pre Lady Macbeth and his problems with the Great Leader and Teacher, the "Steel Man".
> Very colorful, flamboyant orchestration...really quite fascinating...lots of rousing numbers...but some lovely and telling slow movements as well...the plots of both ballets are pretty stupid, insipid...supposedly DS had to portray the differences between the decadent, materialistic West, frittering away its time on useless, wasteful pursuits, as opposed to the altogether wholesome, productive values of the Proletarian Revolution []...Jazz elements were employed to display the fruitless time-wasting of the decadent West....I don't know how much DS really bought into this stripe, but it doesn't matter - the music is most enjoyable and colorful - quite a contrast with his post "Lady Macbeth" works, which take on a much darker, more serious tone...
> Rozhd'sky/Royal Stockholm recorded both complete ballets on Chandos - fine performances is in excellent sound...


Yes, this is before his problems began with Stalin when he was still in his early, experimental phase. Imagine if Stalin didn't exist, would his trajectory as a composer have changed? Would he have gone even more absurdist? We'll never know.


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

For those who wish to watch the ballet, there is a 1970's choregraphed version by Yury Grigorovich. The score is slightly expanded and rearranged by including parts from other pieces Shostakovich wrote. The resulting ballet is probably one of my absolute favourites and there is an excellent video of the Bolshoi dancing it from the 2000's. The music, with it's obvious jazz and Western influences is (in my humble opinion) some of Shostakovich's best.

As a side note, the title of the ballet is often translated to the more anglicised _The Golden Age_ rather than _The Age of Gold, _which sounds somewhat awkward.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

BachIsBest said:


> As a side note, the title of the ballet is often translated to the more anglicised _The Golden Age_ rather than _The Age of Gold, _which sounds somewhat awkward.


When I ripped the CDs of Serebrier's and Rozhdestvensky's performances of this ballet, _The Golden Age_ is what I used. _The Age of Gold_ does sound awkward, but it's in so many articles and on CD covers (and liner notes) now that I've become accustomed to seeing it worded both ways.


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