The Taming of the Shrew (Russian Ukroshchenye stroptivoy, Cyrillic Укрощение строптивой) is a 1957 opera in four acts, five scenes by Vissarion Shebalin to a libretto by the Soviet musicologist Abram Akimovich Gozenpud, based on the comedy by William Shakespeare.
His libretto does match the spirit of Shakespeare's play in its use of wit, the genuine passion of the story's lovers, and mixture of both lofty and coarse language.
Unhappy with the final scene between Katherine and Petruchio, Shebalin completely re-wrote the ending of the opera for the work's first staging at the Bolshoi Theatre in August 1957.
[6] Bianka, the youngest daughter of Paduan merchant Baptista Minola, has won the hearts of two young noblemen, Liuchentsio and Gortenzio, who are in competition for her affections.
[1] The 1957 Bolshoi performance under Zdeněk Chalabala with Galina Vishnevskaya as Caterina, Yevgeny Kibkalo as Petruchio, Glafira Deomidova as Bianca and Arthur Eisen as Baptista, was recorded for radio and issued in 1961 on LP by Melodiya.