This spring the Metroplitan Opera will present "The Nose", the Shostakovich opera inspired by Nikolai Gogol's 1936 short story about a man whose nose leaves his face and develops a life of its own. William Kentridge, the South African artist guiding the adaption, see the nose as a metaphor for the parts of our selves in conflict - when the protoganist catches up with his errant olafactory organ, it refuses to return to its former position.

The opera is a particularly satirical, particularly Russian work. When it premiered in Russia in 1930, the Rusian Association of Proletarian Musicians deemed it "too formalist" and it closed after 17 performances and was not shown again in Russian until 1974.

Kentridge, well known for his amazing drawings, animation and performance work will present the Nose on stage, in archival film footage, his own animations and films.

The last performative work by Kentridge - a production of Mozart's Die Zauberfloete - proved to be the artistic event of 2008 (I, sadly, gave my ticket away and once the reviews came out from the first night, there was no chance of gaining another). We're excited to see how Kentridge transforms this piece.

Where: The Metropolitan Opera (co-produced with the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, and the Opéra National de Lyon, France)

When: opens March 5 for six performances (March 11, 13, 18, 25)

Link: NYT Article on the William Kentridge exhibition at SFMOMA.