The Nose
Plain as the nose on her face
Constance was very interested to find out that there is an entire opera about a nose that decides to jump off it’s face and have a life of its own. This may be because she is the very first Hitty carved by her human and doesn’t have much in the way of facial topography.
Her operatic education continues with Shostakovitch’s The Nose – the strangest opera we have ever seen, or listened to. The nose goes AWOL – accidently lopped off by a barber, it grows to human size, experiences many wild adventures, is eventually caught and beaten back to it’s proper proportions after which it rejoins the face of the protagonist. The man seems all set to live happily ever after, though the ultimate happiness of the nose is uncertain.
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Shostakovitch explained to the nose
The Metropolitan Opera Live in HD production was like a very big collage. The black and white Russian newspaper backgrounds, splats of colour in the costumes and off-kilter dollhouse-like sets were very disorienting…The music clashed, groaned and shrilled, some characters sang mournfully, and others screamed. The whole thing was funny but it’s the kind of painful absurdity that can make you wonder after why you are laughing…
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Quimper Hittys 
Who knew about The Nose? Funny in both senses of the word!
It is Art. Who can explain Art?
Constance doesn’t miss a beat – she can talk to a renegade nose perched on red gumboots as if that is the most normal thing in the world. And not only talk, but she is able to explain Shostakovich! Surely Constance is a paragon of unflappable intellect.
Well it might be a bit much to try and explain Shostakovitch, except as an extreme example of the pre-Stalin flowering of creativity in the USSR.
Constance is amazing. I think I might have run (probably screaming) from this opera!! And yet our heroine is
calmly entertaining the nose on his red boots. She is a marvel!! As are you for posting this!! Too fun.
I bet Hetty would have liked it…better watch out if she says she wants to go to hairdressing school!
We finally are able to see “The Nose” on “Great Performances” this afternoon. I recalled Constance having commented on this rather intriguing work….A schnoz on pointe is certainly worth an odd remark or two.
Very odd indeed! Constance wasn’t entirely sure what to say, except that many operas have mythical elements and absurdity – and this one had an extra dose!