The Nose

What happens when a nose decides to run away from its owner and starts leading a life of its own? Attracted by the fantastic, the ‘absurd’ in Nikolai Gogol’s short story The Nose (1836), Dmitri Shostakovich chose this satire of Russian society and its tsarist administration as the basis for his first opera, which he composed at the age of 22 in 1928. Due to its social criticism, its surrealistic theme and its riotous mixture of musical styles, this near insane work was banned from the Soviet repertoire for almost half a century. Despite its extreme vocal and instrumental cast, this fresh, brilliant work is now once more receiving the attention it deserves. Àlex Ollé and La Fura dels Baus will stage a visually spectacular performance of it while Gergely Madaras unleashes the orchestra for his debut at La Monnaie.

Conductor
Gergely Madaras 

Director
Àlex Ollé (La Fura dels Baus)

Decor
Alfons Flores 

Costumes
Lluc Castells 

Lighting
Urs Chönebaum