The Nose Tickets

Act I

Either in a dream or in reality, the barber Ivan Yakovlevich is doing his hateful job
in a drunken stupor. Ivan Yakovlevich and his wife Praskovya are taken aback to nd a nose
in a bread roll. The panic-stricken barber tries to dispose of the evidence.

When he wakes up in the morning, Major Kovalev discovers his nose has disappeared.

Inside Kazan Cathedral, Major Kovalev unexpectedly meets his nose and tries to speak to it.

A newspaper advertisements department: Kovalev tries to submit an advertisement about the disappearance of his nose. Unsuccessfully...

Kovalev’s apartment... The major’s footman Ivan is relaxing quietly, and Kovalev’s despair increases…

Act II

A coaching-inn. The district constable is giving instructions to his men to capture the travelling Nose.

A procession of travellers enters: a mother and father with their two sons, Ivan Ivanovich and Pyotr Fyodorovich, an elderly lady surrounded by hangers-on and a bread roll seller. Suddenly the nose appears. In the confusion, they manage to catch it...

Kovalev’s apartment... The district constable brings Kovalev his Nose and, on receiving his reward, disappears. In vain, the major tries to put the Nose back on his face. A doctor arrives but is unable to help Kovalev...

Kovalev and his friend Yaryzhkin suspect the guilty party to be Podtochina, the widow
of a staff-officer, acting in revenge for Kovale’s contempt for her daughter...

The friends write a letter to Podtochina, which Ivan the footman delivers...

Ivan returns with an answer and Kovalev understands that the women are innocent...

A rumour is spreading over the city that Kovalev’s Nose has run away... The horrific tale has captured the imagination of the whole city: Everyone, including the eminent merchant Khorzev-Mirza, is discussing the event in the most animated fashion... Unexpectedly Major Kovalev joins the crowd: his nose is exactly where it should be...

Opera in 3 acts and 10 scenes, without intermission

Act 1

Prologue

St Petersburg. Kovalyov, a Collegiate Assessor is being shaved by Ivan Yakovlevich (a barber). He is one of Yakovlevich's regular customers.

The next morning, Yakovlevich finds a nose in his bread. His wife, believing he has cut off one of his customers' noses, requests him to dispose of it. He tries to dispose of it in the street, but is foiled by running into people he knows, then he throws it into the Neva River, but he is seen by a police officer and taken away for questioning. Meanwhile, Kovalyov wakes and finds his nose missing. His first reaction is disbelief, then shock, and he sets out to find it. He later sees his nose praying in the Kazan Cathedral, now the size of a human being. Since the nose has acquired a higher rank (State Councillor) than he, it refuses to have any dealings with him, and leaves.

Act 2

In his search, Kovalyov finds himself at the Chief of Police's apartment, but he is not at home. Next he visits the newspaper office to place an advertisement about the loss of his nose, where they are dealing with a missing dog. After explaining his loss, his request is refused on the grounds of the newspaper's reputation. Upon demonstrating his loss, the clerk suggests he tell his story. Kovalyov feels insulted and leaves.

He returns to his apartment, where his servant is playing the balalaika, he dismisses him and wallows in self-pity.

Act 3

The police take up the search. A group of policemen are at a railway station, in order to prevent the nose from escaping, where an inspector rallies them. The nose runs in and tries to stop the train, and a general pursuit ensues, resulting in its capture. The nose is then beaten into its normal size, wrapped and returned to Kovalyov by the inspector, but Kovalyov is unable to reattach it. Nor can a doctor. He then suspects that he has been placed under a spell by a woman called Madame Podtochina, because he would not marry her daughter. He writes to ask her to undo the spell, but she misinterprets the letter as a proposal to her daughter. She convinces him that she is innocent. In the city, crowds fuelled by rumours gather in search of the nose till the police restore order.

Epilogue

Kovalyov wakes up with his nose reattached, and dances a polka in joy. Yakovlevich has been released from prison and arrives to shave him. Afterwards Kovalyov wanders along Nevsky Prospekt greeting acquaintances, while people discuss the story.