About the work
Cherry Town is the English performing version of "Moscow, Cheryomushki" (Russian Москва, Черёмушки), the only operetta by Dmitri Shostakovich (Op. 105). Composed in 1958, it was premiered on 24 January 1959 at the Moscow Operetta Theatre. The libretto by Vladimir Mass and Mikhail Chervinsky is a biting satire on the chronic housing shortage and bureaucracy in Moscow during the Khrushchev era. "Cheryomushki" (bird-cherry trees) is a real prefab satellite housing estate in south-west Moscow.
Plot
In the late 1950s, modern high-rise estates are going up on the outskirts of Moscow — one of them is called Cheryomushki. A colourful crowd of young Muscovites looks forward to finally moving into their own apartments, among them the newlyweds Sasha and Masha, who, lacking a flat, still live separately in dormitories and have to meet in secret at the museum. But corrupt officials such as the bureaucrat Drebednyov and the building manager Barabashkin have their own plans for the coveted flats: they take bribes and try to cheat the rightful tenants out of their homes. Outraged, the new residents band together and build a "magic garden" with a truth bench, on which anyone who sits down must tell the truth. Thus the swindlers are exposed and stripped of power — in the end the lovers are united and justice prevails.
Cultural significance
Moscow, Cheryomushki is Shostakovich's only operetta and one of his most light-hearted works. Behind the seemingly system-conforming comedy lies a humorous yet critical look at the gulf between socialist propaganda and dreary everyday life. The rousing, melody-rich score contains tongue-in-cheek parodies — for example of Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty" and Lehár's "Merry Widow". The work was filmed in 1962; in modern chamber versions it is enjoying a renaissance at smaller houses today and is regarded as a witty rediscovery.