The Left-Hander (opera)

The Left-Hander or Levsha (ru:Левша; The Left-Hander) is an opera in 2 acts by composer Rodion Shchedrin. The work uses a Russian language libretto by the composer after Nikolai Leskov's The Tale of Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea (Russian: Сказ о тульском косом Левше). The work had its world premiere in a concert performance on 26 June 2013, followed by the world stage premiere on 27 July 2013 at the Mariinsky II in St Petersburg. Conductor Valery Gergiev led both performances.[1]

This article is about the opera by Rodion Shchedrin. For other uses, see Left-Hander (disambiguation).

Plot

The action takes place in the early nineteenth century.[2] Tsar Nicolas I admires a tiny dancing flea made of steel by English workmen and given to Nicolas's elder brother Tsar Alexander I. He challenges Russian workmen to create something better. In a flashback the flea is presented to Alexander at Buckingham Palace and its dancing is shown (described in an onomatopoeic orchestral interlude). Back in Nicolas's time, the Left-Hander of the title, a workman, manages to affix minute horseshoes to the English flea; Nicolas is pleased and sends the Left-Hander to England. There he is admiringly interviewed by the Court who try to persuade him to take an English bride, but he refuses. After a tour of English armouries he returns to St Petersburg, his voyage imperilled by a storm and a drunken English “under-skipper”. Arriving drunk himself, he is arrested. He sends a message to the Tsar: the Russian army should stop cleaning their muskets with brick-dust, for the English don't do that, and if war comes between the two nations the Russian guns will be no good. He dies, the Flea sings a lullaby and the opera ends with a burial rite.[3]

Recording

In 2015 a full recording of the opera was released by the Mariinsky Theater with Andrey Popov in the title role, Maria Maksakova as Princess Charlotte, Kristina Alieva as Flea, Edward Tsanga as Platov, Andrei Spekhov as the English sailor, and Vladimir Moroz as both Tsars Alexander I and Nicholas I.[4]

References
  1. Levsha at Schott Music
  2. Nicolas I acceded in 1825 and the Crimean War, whose approach is hinted at in the penultimate scene, broke out in 1853, though the actual date of the action does not seem to be specified. In the scenes in the English court the character "Princess Charlotte" appears, but it is not clear who this is; the daughter of the future King George IV died in 1817.
  3. Summarised from the libretto printed in the Mariinsky recording, for which see the next paragraph.
  4. David Shengold (July 2015). "Shchedrin: The Left-Hander (Levsha)". Opera News. Vol. 80, no. 1.


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