Product Review

Specially composed for Valery Gergiev on the occasion of his 60th birthday and now available on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time, Rodion Shchedrins The Left-Hander is a comedy of Russians and Englishmen, new technology, old traditions, and strong drink. Premiered in July 2013 by the Mariinsky Opera in St Petersburg it received its Western European premiere in 2014 at the Barbican Hall, London. The Left-Hander is a gloriously wry exploration of Russias relationship with the West in general and England in particular. Rodion Shchedrin is one of musics greatest living humourists, and his work is laced with pitch-black irony and deadpan wit. Based on Nikolai Leskovs classical satirical novella of 1881, The Tale of Cross-Eyed Lefty From Tula and the Steel Flea, The Left-Hander is a wickedly funny satire, following in the tradition of Gogol and Shostakovich.