Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, The

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Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, The (Ledi Makbet Mtsenskovo uyezda). Opera in 4 acts by Shostakovich to lib. by composer and A. Preys after short story by N. Leskov (1846). Comp. 1930–2. Prod. Leningrad 1934, Moscow 1934 (2 days later under title Katerina Izmaylova), Cleveland 1935, London (concert) 1936. Opera had nearly 200 perfs. in two years in Moscow and Leningrad. In Jan. 1936 Stalin and Soviet officials attended Moscow perf. at Bolshoy Th. and two days later an article, inspired and perhaps even written by Stalin and headed ‘Muddle instead of music’, violently attacked the opera as ‘screaming’ and obscene. There were no more perfs. After Stalin's death in 1953, opera was revised (1956–62) but not prod. until 1963 (Moscow) as Katerina Izmaylova, Op.114. Orig. vers. revived Düsseldorf 1959 and outside Russ. has now replaced rev. vers. Prod. London (ENO) 1987, S. Francisco 1964.