Nothing to sneeze at: ‘The Nose’ thru Chicago Opera Theater
Curtis Bannister and Aleksey Bogdanov. Photo by Michael Brosilow.
Dmitri Shostakovich’s The Nose is an opera known for being extraordinarily difficult to stage effectively. There are a number of reasons for this: the score calls for an unusually large number of soloists; there are numerous passages of instrumental music with little or no prescribed character action; the music itself is angular, often atonal, and crosses genre lines; and the surreal plot itself does not conform to standard audience narrative expectations. Couple this with a surprisingly sparse production history due to the Western opera world’s historical underproducing of Russian works, particularly those written, (as The Nose was) during the reign of the Soviet Union, and it’s no wonder that fully staged productions are a rarity.
The opera, adapted from a short story by Nikolai Gogol and produced for a limited engagement by Chicago Opera Theater, is a pre-Kafka surrealist satire of Russian bureaucracy. A minor official, Platon Kovalyov (baritone Aleksy Bogdanov) awakes one morning to discover that his nose is suddenly missing. He is particularly distressed to discover that the wayward appendage (tenor Curtis Bannister) has grown to human size and inexplicably obtained the rank of State Councilor and as such refuses to have anything to do with its former owner. What follows is a series of comic tableaux of Kovalyov’s attempts to obtain aid in recapturing the nose and then reattaching it to his face, all while the nose itself proves surprisingly adept at moving in Russian high society and evading the police who seek to apprehend it.
Director Francesca Zambello’s main solution to the difficulties inherent in staging The Nose is opting for abstraction whenever possible. This is most effective during the aforementioned intra-scene instrumental passages, which are filled by winning contemporary ballet pieces performed by an ensemble of six dancers on loan from the South Chicago Dance Theatre, choreographed by that organization’s founder Kia S. Smith. The sense of off-kilter comic abstraction is also effectively communicated in Marcus Doshi’s scenic design, in which his use of raking quite cleverly results in a sizeable portion of the action at a Dutch angle. For all that imitation of film techniques has influenced theatrical practices over the past century, it’s surprising that this isn’t done more often, as it is tremendously effective at conveying the topsy-turvy nature of the story.
The abstraction is less effective when it comes to the actual staging of the action as it pertains to the plot. This is particularly the case in the scene that precedes the intermission, where is becomes increasingly difficult to understand what is happening. It’s not generally a good sign when audience members have to look up the Wikipedia synopsis during the interval to make sure they won’t be lost during the second half. It’s especially disappointing when this research tells them that they’ve been deprived of a Benny Hill-esque chase scene through a train station in which the quarry is a wily giant nose.
As far as the performers go, Bogdanov is the obvious vocal standout. His booming baritone absolutely fills the house and he takes obvious delight in using his full range during the piece’s more absurd moments. Bannister, too, oozes charisma in the title role. Casting a true crossover performer with a sizeable amount of acting experience was a wise choice, as Bannister is able to use his face and body to communicate relationship and personality in a way most singers who lack professional experience and often training in theatre acting simply are not. He commands the stage every time he appears, able to steal the scene even when someone else is singing and he is silent. This seems thematically appropriate for a story that derives a lot of its comedy from a man being met with shockingly placid reactions to his ridiculous plight.
Of course, the main story surrounding the production is that this is the last Chicago Opera Theater production performed under the baton of beloved Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya. During her six years in the position, the maestra has earned accolades for her artistry and leadership, successfully shepherding the organization through lock-down and programming seasons that typify COT’s artistic vision of opera as a living artform. It’s no exaggeration to say that her departure marks the end of an era for the company. For the opera-going public in Chicago, that sea change is perhaps the biggest reason for making it a point to see The Nose.
For more information on the company and its work, please visit chicagooperatheater.org.
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