Only on his death in 1981 was Mikhail Nosyrev rehabilitated, after a lifetime of betrayal, imprisonment and then – following intervention by Shostakovich – grudging half-acceptance (as a ‘non-person’ he was denied an entry in the 1976 Soviet Muzykalnaya Entsiklopediya). Not surprisingly, Shostakovich’s influence lies across the symphonies; in this ballet the sources go back further, to the lyricism of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, with a touch of Scriabin. Per Skans’ excellent insert note outlines the plot, too detailed to be sketched here, except to say that it is based on a rather uncharacteristic story by Turgenev of two rivals, Fabio and Muzio, for the beautiful Valeria, and the intervention of a sinister Malay mute servant brought back by Muzio from his love-lorn travels. A large part is played by the harp (perhaps from Turgenev’s mention of Valeria’s love of singing to the lute, but also because it was Nosyrev’s favourite instrument) and by a solo violin.
The three principal characters are given deft musical portraits, the Malay has some weird music for his sorceries, and the central near-tragedy is quite powerfully drawn. The work has been successful in Russia, especially in the city of Voronezh, which became Nosyrev’s adopted home after he left the gulag, and whose orchestra, under Vladimir Verbitzky, give as committed a performance of the ballet as they have of the symphonies (1/99, 9/99).'