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The UK premiere of Shchedrin's witty new comedy of Anglo-Russian misunderstanding, performed by the team that gave its premiere in 2013. Rodion Shchedrin's The Lefthander is a comedy of Russians and Englishmen, new technology, old traditions, and strong drink. Specially written for Gergiev and the Mariinsky - who gave its premiere in July 2013 - this is the first UK performance of this wickedly funny satire in the tradition of Gogol and Shostakovich. After Boris Godunov, Valery Gergiev and his Mariinsky forces present a Russian opera from the opposite extreme of the Russian soul. Rodion Shchedrin is one of music's greatest living humourists, and his work is laced with pitch-black irony and deadpan wit. Based on Nikolai Leskov's classic satirical novella of 1881, The Tale of Cross-Eyed Lefty From Tula and the Steel Flea, The Lefthander is a gloriously wry exploration of Russia's relationship with the West in general and England in particular - so it's wonderfully appropriate that it's receiving its Western European premiere here at the Barbican.