Within Shostakovich's torment

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RM The 2022/2023 season opened with Boris Godunov; now, after two inaugurations with Verdi's mature works, Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth will make its way to the stage. Is there a plan or trajectory behind this?

RC The idea came about in 1972 when I was 19 and attended rehearsals and performances of Shostakovich's The Nose with the unforgettable Renato Capecchi, conducted by Bruno Bartoletti and directed by Eduardo De Filippo. At the time, I didn't even know that the score existed, and I was in awe for days, so struck by the modernity and courage of tackling Gogol's text in that way and bringing it to the stage. I only recovered from it once I was able to study Shostakovich's music. That youthful listening experience led me to conduct The Fair at Sorochintsy in the 1980s, directed by Sylvano Bussotti; then came The Fiery Angel, then Boris, and now Lady Macbeth. It is a great score, which has never received the visibility that comes with the 7 December opening, and I am very happy that this is happening on the 15 anniversary of Shostakovich's death and on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the opera's debut at La Scala in 1964. It is a very rich, totally modern piece and a key part of the repertoire of that century. It is a piece that I would like to see become popular. Every now and then, I tell the professors of the Philharmonic that I dream of the day when I will hear a baker whistling Varèse's Arcana on his electric motorbike.

RM The grotesque is a fundamental element, perhaps the key to the entire score.

RC That's right, and when you first hear it, it's shocking. The priest's commentary on the death of Boris, who was killed by Katerina with rat poison, uses language almost like an Offenbach operetta, but the entire score has this kind of dynamic. The “satirical tragedy”, as it is described, imposes a grotesque element. This also happens in Act IV, when Shostakovich writes that sublime page that is Katerina's second romanza. He must have studied Gustav Mahler's Der Abschied from the Lied von der Erde in depth: the first three stanzas are almost a psalm in the melodic part, following the same notes as Mahler's Abschied. He intended to convey the total emptiness felt by the protagonist, the ultimate state of mind of an existence that is about to end, with an apparent simplicity reminiscent of Mahler's final work. This part, one of the most profound and touching pages of the entire opera, is immediately juxtaposed with Katerina's duet with Sonetka, her husband's lover, in which the grotesque reappears imperiously.

RM How can we evaluate Shostakovich's orchestration, both in the important interludes and in the score as a whole?

RC Frankly, I don't know how Shostakovich could have conceived such an orchestration when he was 24 to 26 years old. It is a perfect orchestration, in which nothing can be corrected or cut, endowed with an exceptional sense of economy. Equally impressive is his bold use of polytonality, typical of a superior artist, in his continuous overlapping of tonalities. It reaches islands of tonality, and it is like setting foot on land after a long journey on water. These are sublime but illusory moments because it is a piece that allows for no relaxation. On these themes, I recommend Franco Pulcini's book (Shostakovich, EDT, 1988) to those who have not yet read it. It is an important text, admirable for the effectiveness with which it highlights the novelty and absolute modernity of Lady Macbeth.

RM What is the role of the choir in this piece, and how can we evaluate the choral writing?

RC Maestro Malazzi now speaks Russian...and the choir is excellent, memorising a very complicated text. The great performance difficulty is in the speed of the syllabification, especially in Act I. Shostakovich prescribes metronomes, which for me—as those who have followed me over the years at La Scala know—should be a reference point, not a dogma. Mariss Jansons, a great interpreter of this opera (fortunately, there is a recording of a performance in Amsterdam), told me that it is common in the Russian tradition, with composers such as Rachmaninov and Shostakovich, to relativise. One can take hints from the directions they left behind. Shostakovich, moreover, was a formidable pianist (there is also a recording of him performing an interlude from the opera) and played at a furious tempo. It is not the same thing to do so with over a hundred musicians in the orchestra. With these numbers, all in short time, the choir, which must be conducted as one, must keep exactly the same beat as the conductor, and it is essential that the tempo be precise and compatible with the syllabic words. In Act IV, however, Shostakovich thinks of Mussorgsky, a great composer who preceded him, whose music he knew by heart, having orchestrated much of it. All the choruses in the final act of this tragedy are rooted in Mussorgsky's choral writing. In Act IV, the choir can therefore stretch out magnificently in song, with that wonderful colour that it already gave us three years ago in Boris.

RM Are there any predecessors you look to when tackling this masterpiece by Shostakovich?

RC It would be extremely regrettable if a performer had not thoroughly studied Mstislav Rostropovich's performance, with Galina Višnevskaja in the title role, of which we have the 1978 EMI recording. Rostropovich's personal friendship with Shostakovich is comparable in significance to that of Willem Mengelberg and Gustav Mahler, which I had the opportunity to explore in Amsterdam, as well as to the direct relationship I experienced with the great Luciano Berio and Wolfgang Rihm. Without having been able to ask him, I am sure that the so-called liberties Rostropovich takes with regard to the score, both in terms of the soprano's interpretation and the opera as a whole, are the result of discussions and exchanges of ideas with Shostakovich. For me, that historic performance is the starting point.

RM Is there a scene that is particularly close to your heart as a performer, musician, or person?

RC When I conduct an opera, I usually fall in love with it from the first note to the last; it becomes a visceral passion. However, if I had to choose, in this grand and complex score, I would point to Katerina's two romanze. The one in the first act is explosive: with the F sharp minor with which it begins, one finally feels, after all that harmonic torment, that one has arrived on an island. And with that, one of the greatest pieces ever written by Shostakovich begins (which he also transcribed as a stand-alone instrumental piece), reaching great heights both musically and emotionally. It contains all the discontent and impatience of a woman in the prime of her femininity, the unfulfilled desire for something she cannot attain. All this is described in an irresistible musical way. An immense piece. The second romance, in Act IV, is antithetical to the first, detaching itself from everything and pursuing a Mahlerian matrix. Shortly before, Shostakovich had demonstrated his ability to compose a dodecaphonic series, although with this score he is actually completely independent of the Second Viennese School (which I love very much. You will remember, a few weeks ago, the Orchestra's masterful interpretation of Schönberg's challenging Variations op. 31). First, the English horn hints at it (no. 485 in the score), then the oboe solo (no. 488) exposes a complete dodecaphonic series.

RM Which other pieces of music from Shostakovich's splendid catalogue are you particularly fond of?

RC With the La Scala Orchestra, we have performed the interludes from Lady Macbeth several times on international tours (and it has always been a celebration). I have already had ample opportunity to experience the absolute ease with which they play Shostakovich, with the First Violin Concerto with Maxim Vengerov, and before that, many years ago, with the Second Cello Concerto, featuring the late Lynn Harrell as soloist. Personally, I love Shostakovich very much, and I have recorded his jazz music, film music and ballet music with DECCA. I have also conducted his symphonies: the Fifth, the Twelfth (wrongly considered banally repetitive, which are clichés. It is a score that needs to be studied in depth) and the Fourteenth. I would also like to perform the Fourth and Eighth symphonies. The Fourth for its extremely high value. It had already been rehearsed, but because its language was so advanced, in the aftermath of Stalin's censorship of Lady Macbeth, Shostakovich withdrew the score, which would not be performed for the first time until a quarter of a century later. The Eighth is another shocking score.

RM Stalin's censorship of Lady Macbeth, in fact...

RC The interference of such a negative judgement by Stalin was a very serious matter, which prevented the completion of the “Russian trilogy” that Shostakovich intended to dedicate to the condition of Russian women (Lady Macbeth would have been the first title). I cannot even imagine what wonders the second and third titles would have had in store for us. We can only console ourselves with the operetta—if it can be called that—Moscow, Cheremushki, of which I recorded a symphonic suite with the Philadelphia Orchestra, much to the delight of the orchestra itself. Although this musical comedy is of great value, it remains a huge regret that Shostakovich was forced to give up much more ambitious dramatic projects. This regret is only heightened by listening to the final chorus performed by the choir as it recedes in the opera's final scene: great music that evokes great emotion. In short, expectations for this Lady Macbeth are high.

Raffaele Mellace
Professor of Musicology and Music History at the University of Genoa,
Scientific and Editorial Director of La Scala Theatre