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The Overcoat

Regular Price: $17.98
Sale Price:$9.99

Released: December 11, 2001
Product ID: 5216

This release on CBC Records is the soundtrack to the film The Overcoat, a performing arts masterwork inspired by the short story by Nikolai Gogol, the nineteenth century absurdist best known for scathing political commentary. At its heart is a simple moral fable of a humble Civil Servant, a lonely and alienated man who is isolated in his own world. The story is set to the music of Dmitri Shostakovich without a single word of dialogue, resulting in a seamless piece that operates on a grand scale.

At the heart of the work is the lean figure of the Civil Servant, a social pariah touched with nobility. Like Chaplin, he has a sweet innocence that triumphantly survives the vicious taunts hurled at him by everyone around him. Though a wordless mix of movement, mime and music, the production engages its audiences in the paradox that the realization of material dreams can bring about man’s destruction. The same overcoat that proves emancipation also enslaves him in insanity. A Russian composer seemed an obvious choice for the music of The Overcoat. "I love Gogol," declared Shostakovich in Testimony, his memoirs. "I'm not bragging, but I know pages and pages by heart." Shostakovich's fondness for Gogol was lifelong: the two men were kindred spirits, lampooning bureaucracy and officialdom in particular. With its ineluctably Russian sound, taut rhythms and spiky melodies, Shostakovich's music - whether or not originally written for the theatre - is, as it were, tailor-made for The Overcoat.

Featured on the soundtrack are Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with the distinguished Canadian pianist ANGELA CHENG, selections from the Jazz Suites Nos. 1 and 2 with the internationally renowned trumpeter JENS LINDEMANN; excerpts from the Ballet Suites Nos. 1,2,3; and the whirlwind second ‘Allegro’ movement from Symphony No. 10. MARIO BERNARDI conducts the CBC RADIO ORCHESTRA.

Angela Cheng piano
Jens Lindemann trumpet
Mario Bernardi Conductor
CBC Radio Orchestra

"This is a winner on all accounts. I can't remember Angela Cheng ever playing better. She's clear and articulate with beautiful, musical shaping and phrasing, and a kind of restrained energy. There's a brilliance to the recorded sound that perfectly presents and enhances all the musical elements. The full five stars."

Sound Advice

Dmitri Shostakovich	Lyric Waltz from Ballet Suite no. 1	2:30
Dmitri Shostakovich	Piano Concerto n°1, op. 35	22:14
Dmitri Shostakovich	Lyric Waltz from Jazz Suite no. 2	2:43
Dmitri Shostakovich	Dance 1 from Jazz Suite no. 2	3:13
Dmitri Shostakovich	Waltz from Jazz Suite no.1	2:36
Dmitri Shostakovich	Piano Concerto n°2, op. 102	19:51
Dmitri Shostakovich	Waltz from Ballet Suite no. 3	2:08
Dmitri Shostakovich	Romance from Ballet Suite no. 1	2:55
Dmitri Shostakovich	Romance from Ballet Suite no. 2	2:50
Dmitri Shostakovich	Waltz frrom Ballet Suite no. 2	2:29
Dmitri Shostakovich	Allegro from Symphony no. 10, op. 93	4:41
Dmitri Shostakovich	Waltz 2 from Jazz Suite no. 2	3:59