Polka (from The Age of Gold)

Polka (from The Age of Gold)

Shostakovich’s ballet The Age of Gold was roundly condemned by the political authorities when it was first performed at the Kirov in Leningrad in 1930. “The image of the Soviet people in this ballet is inert and false,” they said, “and the representatives of the capitalist world are given much more play.” In fact, it had been Shostakovich’s intention to satirise capitalist values as seen through the eyes of a Soviet football team visiting Western Europe. What went wrong is that the satirical pieces are so brilliantly clever that they proved to be more attractive than the music celebrating communist political correctness. The Polka, a music-hall number from the third act, is an irresistible example - irresistible not in spite of the wrong notes but because of them.