After the lightweight productions of the season I looked forward to The Nose by Dmitri Shostakovich, an old production of Zürich Opera directed originally by Peter Stein. And it did prove enjoyable. The sets of Ferdinand Wögerbauer were inventive and much in the spirit of the 1920s Soviet Union. Contrary to my expectations I even enjoyed the music, which after all suits the nightmarish comedy of Gogol's story.

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At work we've had our own absurd nightmare - the euphemistically named "co-determination procedure" resulting this time in the loss of 45 jobs. I kept mine - again contrary to expectations - when people I'd have thought indispensable lost theirs.