Gogol

Auerbach, Lera (Libretto, R)

The Russian poet Nikolai Gogol has much in common with the German Romantic E.T.A. Hoffmann, for example his biting irony and his play with the irrational. Today, Gogol, whose 150th anniversary was commemorated in 2012, is considered the father of modern Russian literature. Many subjects, such as the darkly bizarre tale of the ‘nose’, a body part that detaches itself from its owner and leads a completely independent and terrifying life (Shostakovich turned it into an opera), are reminiscent of Hoffmann's ‘Master Flea’ or ‘Little Zaches’. Lera Auerbach, who admires Gogol immensely, created an opera dedicated to this writer, which was premiered at the Theater am der Wien on 15 November 2011. Based on the last phase of the great Russian poet's life, the composer has characters from Gogol's works and from his life appear in it. However, she does not approach Gogol purely biographically, but attempts to find her own poetic and musical language for the dying poet. Before she began work on this opera, Auerbach explains, she reread Gogol's complete works, as well as more than twenty books that had been written about him.
‘For the opera, I didn't want to create a historical account of Gogol's life, but a kind of dream vision of his inner passions, his madness and his genius. ‘Gogol’ is ultimately a Russian opera, and Russian history is a nightmarish fairy tale from which this country may never awaken.’