According to the British composer Gerard McBurney writing for Boosey & Hawkes, ""The Nose" is one of the young Shostakovich’s greatest masterpieces, an electrifying tour de force of vocal acrobatics, wild instrumental colours and theatrical absurdity, all shot through with a blistering mixture of laughter and rage... The result, in Shostakovich's ruthlessly irreverent hands, is like an operatic version of Charlie Chaplin or Monty Python... despite its magnificently absurd subject and virtuosic music, "The Nose" is a perfectly practical work and provides a hugely entertaining evening in the theatre."