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Boris Godunov (opera)
Encyclopedia
Boris Godunov is an opera
by Modest Mussorgsky
(1839–1881). The work was composed between 1868 and 1873 in Saint Petersburg
, Russia. It is Mussorgsky's only completed opera and is considered his masterpiece. Its subjects are the Russian ruler Boris Godunov
, who reigned as Tsar
(1598 to 1605) during the Time of Troubles
, and his nemesis
, the False Dmitriy
(reigned 1605 to 1606). The Russian-language libretto
was written by the composer, and is based on the "dramatic chronicle"
Boris Godunov by Aleksandr Pushkin, and, in the Revised Version of 1872, on Nikolay Karamzin's History of the Russian State.
Boris Godunov, among major operas, shares with Giuseppe Verdi
's Don Carlos
(1867) the distinction of having the most complex creative history and the greatest wealth of alternative material. The composer created two versions—the Original Version of 1869, which was rejected for production by the Imperial Theatres, and the Revised Version of 1872, which received its first performance in 1874 in Saint Petersburg. These versions constitute two distinct ideological conceptions, not two variations of a single plan.
Boris Godunov has seldom been performed in either of the two forms left by the composer, frequently being subjected to cuts, recomposition, re-orchestration, transposition of scenes, conflation of the original and revised versions, or translation into another language.
Several composers, chief among them Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
and Dmitri Shostakovich
, have created new editions of the opera to "correct" perceived technical weaknesses in the composer's original scores. Although these versions held the stage for decades, Mussorgsky's individual harmonic style and orchestration are now valued for their originality, and revisions by other hands have fallen out of fashion.
Boris Godunov comes closer to the status of a repertory piece than any other Russian opera
, even Pyotr Tchaikovsky
's Eugene Onegin
, and is the most recorded Russian opera.
By the close of 1868, Mussorgsky had already started and abandoned two important opera projects—the antique, exotic, romantic tragedy Salammbô
, written under the influence of Alexander Serov
's Judith
, and the contemporary, Russian, anti-romantic farce Marriage, influenced by Alexander Dargomyzhsky
's The Stone Guest
. Mussorgsky's next project would be a very original and successful synthesis of the opposing styles of these two experiments—the romantic-lyrical style of Salammbô, and the realistic style of Marriage .
In the autumn of 1868, Vladimir Nikolsky, a professor of Russian history
and language
, and an authority on Pushkin, suggested to Mussorgsky the idea of composing an opera on the subject of Pushkin's drama
Boris Godunov. Boris the play, modelled on Shakespeare's
histories
, was written in 1825 and published in 1831, but was not approved for performance by the state censors until 1866, almost 30 years after the author's death. Production was permitted on condition that certain scenes were cut. Although enthusiasm for the work was high, Mussorgsky faced a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to his plans in that an Imperial ukaz of 1837 forbade the portrayal in opera of Russian Tsars (amended in 1872 to include only Romanov Tsars).
Original Version
When Lyudmila Shestakova, the sister of Mikhail Glinka
, learned of Mussorgsky's plans, she presented him with a volume of Pushkin's dramatic works, interleaved with blank pages and bound, and using this Mussorgsky began work in October 1868 preparing his own libretto. Pushkin's drama consists of 25 scenes, written predominantly in blank verse
. Mussorgsky adapted the most theatrically effective scenes, mainly those featuring the title character, along with a few other key scenes (Novodevichy, Cell, Inn), often preserving Pushkin's verses.
Mussorgsky worked rapidly, composing first the vocal score
in about nine months (finished 18 July 1869), and completed the full score five months later (15 December 1869), at the same time working as a civil servant. In 1870, he submitted the libretto to the state censor for examination, and the score to the literary and music committees of the Imperial Theatres. However, the opera was rejected (10 February 1871) by a vote of 6 to 1, ostensibly for its lack of an important female role. Lyudmila Shestakova recalled the reply made by conductor Eduard Nápravník
and stage manager Gennadiy Kondratyev of the Mariinsky Theatre
in response to her question of whether Boris had been accepted for production:
Other questionable accounts, such as Rimsky-Korsakov's, allege that there were additional reasons for rejection, such as the work's novelty:
Meanwhile, Pushkin's drama (18 of the published 24 scenes, condensed into 16) finally received its first performance in 1870 at the Mariinsky Theatre
, three years in advance of the premiere of the opera in the same venue, using the same scene designs (by Matvey Shishkov) that would be recycled in the opera.
Revised Version
In 1871, Mussorgsky set about recasting and expanding the opera with enthusiasm, ultimately going beyond the requirements of the directorate of the Imperial Theatres, which called simply for the addition of a female role and a scene to contain it. Nevertheless, he added three scenes (the two Sandomierz scenes and the Kromï Scene), cut one (the scene at the Cathedral of Vasiliy the Blessed), and recomposed another (the Terem Scene). The modifications resulted in the addition of an important prima donna
role (Marina Mniszech), the expansion of existing female roles (additional songs for the Hostess, Fyodor, and the Nurse), and the expansion of the first tenor role (the Pretender). Mussorgsky augmented his adaptation of Pushkin's drama with his own lyrics, assisted by a study of the monumental History of the Russian State by Karamzin, to whom Pushkin's drama is dedicated.
The Revised Version was finished in 1872 (vocal score, 14 December 1871; full score 23 June 1872), and submitted to the Imperial Theatres in the autumn.
Most Mussorgsky biographers claim that the directorate of the Imperial Theatres also rejected the revised version of Boris Godunov, even providing a date: 6 May 1872 (Calvocoressi), or 29 October 1872 (Lloyd-Jones). Recent researchers point out that there is insufficient evidence to support this claim, emphasizing that in his revision Mussorgsky had rectified the only objection the Directorate is known to have made to justify their original rejection.
In any case, Mussorgsky's friends took matters into their own hands, arranging the performance of three scenes (the Inn and both Sandomierz scenes) at the Mariinsky Theatre on 5 February 1873, as a benefit for stage manager Gennadiy Kondratyev. César Cui's
review noted the audience's enthusiasm:
The success of this performance led V. Bessel and Co.
to announce the publication of the piano vocal score of Mussorgsky's opera, issued in January 1874.
Premiere
The triumphant 1873 performance of three scenes paved the way for the first performance of the opera, which was accepted for production on 22 October 1873. The premiere took place on 27 January 1874, as a benefit for prima donna Yuliya Platonova. The Mariinsky Theatre was sold out, and the performance was a great success with the public. Mussorgsky had to take some 20 curtain calls; students sang choruses from the opera in the street. This time, however, the critical reaction was exceedingly hostile [see Critical Reception in this article for details].
Initial performances of Boris Godunov featured significant cuts. The entire Cell Scene was cut from the first performance, not, as is often supposed, due to censorship, but because Nápravník wished to avoid a lengthy performance, and frequently cut episodes he felt were ineffective. Later performances tended to be even more heavily cut, including the additional removal of the Kromï scene, likely for political reasons (starting 20 October 1876, the 13th performance). After protracted difficulties in obtaining the production of his opera, Mussorgsky was compliant with Nápravník's demands, and even defended these mutilations to his own supporters.
Boris Godunov was performed 21 times during the composer's lifetime, and 5 times after his death (in 1881) before being withdrawn from the repertory on 8 November 1882. When Mussorgsky's subsequent opera Khovanshchina
was rejected for production in 1883, the Imperial Opera Committee reputedly said: "One radical opera by Mussorgsky is enough." Boris Godunov did not return to the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre until 9 November 1904, when the Rimsky-Korsakov Edition was presented under conductor Felix Blumenfeld
with bass Fyodor Shalyapin in the title role.
.
Original interpreters
1872, Saint Petersburg – Excerpts
The Coronation Scene was performed on 5 February 1872 by the Russian Music Society, conducted by Eduard Nápravník
. The Polonaise from act 3 was performed (without chorus) on 3 April 1872 by the Free School of Music, conducted by Mily Balakirev
.
1873, Saint Petersburg – Three scenes
Three scenes from the opera—the Inn Scene, the Scene in Marina's Boudoir, and the Fountain Scene—were performed on 5 February 1873 at the Mariinsky Theatre. Eduard Nápravník conducted. The cast included Darya Leonova (Innkeeper), Fyodor Komissarzhevsky
(Pretender), Osip Petrov
(Varlaam), Vasily Vasilyev, "Vasilyev II" (Misail), Mikhail Sariotti (Police Officer), Yuliya Platonova (Marina), Josef Paleček (Rangoni), and Feliks Krzesiński (Old Polish Noble).
1874, Saint Petersburg – World premiere
The Revised Version of 1872 received its world premiere on 27 January 1874 at the Mariinsky Theatre
. The Cell Scene was omitted. The Novodevichiy and Coronation scenes were combined into one continuous scene: "The Call of Boris to the Tsardom". The scenes were grouped in five acts as follows:
Production personnel included Gennadiy Kondratyev (stage director), Ivan Pomazansky (chorus master), Matvey Shishkov, Mikhail Bocharov, and Ivan Andreyev (scene designers), and Vasiliy Prokhorov (costume designer). Eduard Nápravník conducted. The cast included Ivan Melnikov (Boris), Aleksandra Krutikova (Fyodor), Wilhelmina Raab (Kseniya), Olga Shryoder (nurse), Vasiliy Vasilyev, "Vasilyev II" (Shuysky), Vladimir Sobolev (Shchelkalov), Vladimir Vasilyev, "Vasilyev I" (Pimen, Lawicki), Fyodor Komissarzhevsky
(Pretender), Yuliya Platonova (Marina), Josef Paleček (Rangoni), Osip Petrov
(Varlaam), Pavel Dyuzhikov (Misail), Antonina Abarinova (Innkeeper), Pavel Bulakhov (Yuródivïy), Mikhail Sariotti (Nikitich), Lyadov (Mityukha), Sobolev (Boyar-in-Attendance), Matveyev (Khrushchov), and Sobolev (Czernikowski). The production ran for 26 performances over 9 years.
The premiere established traditions that have influenced subsequent Russian productions (and many abroad as well):
1879, Saint Petersburg – Cell Scene
The Cell Scene (Revised Version) was first performed on 16 January 1879 in Kononov Hall, at a concert of the Free School of Music, in the presence of Mussorgsky. Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov conducted. The cast included Vladimir Vasilyev, "Vasilyev I" (Pimen), and Vasiliy Vasilyev, "Vasilyev II" (Pretender).
1888, Moscow – Bolshoy Theatre premiere
The Revised Version of 1872 received its Moscow premiere on 16 December 1888 at the Bolshoy Theatre. The Cell and Kromï scenes were omitted. Production personnel included Anton Bartsal (stage director), and Karl Valts (scene designer). Ippolit Altani
conducted. The cast included Bogomir Korsov
(Boris), Nadezhda Salina (Fyodor), Aleksandra Karatayeva (Kseniya), O. Pavlova (Nurse), Anton Bartsal (Shuysky), Pyotr Figurov (Shchelkalov), Ivan Butenko (Pimen), Lavrentiy Donskoy (Pretender), Mariya Klimentova (Marina), Pavel Borisov (Rangoni), Vladimir Streletsky (Varlaam), Mikhail Mikhaylov (Misail), Vera Gnucheva (Innkeeper), and Aleksandr Dodonov
(Boyar-in-attendance). The production ran for 10 performances.
1896, Saint Petersburg – Premiere of the Rimsky-Korsakov edition
The Rimsky-Korsakov edition premiered on 28 November 1896 in the Great Hall of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory
. Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov conducted. The cast included Mikhail Lunacharsky (Boris), Gavriil Morskoy (Pretender), and Fyodor Stravinsky
(Varlaam). The production ran for 4 performances.
1898, Moscow – Fyodor Shalyapin as Boris
Bass Fyodor Shalyapin first appeared as Boris on 7 December 1898 at the Solodovnikov Theatre
in a Private Russian Opera production. The Rimsky-Korsakov edition of 1896 was performed. Production personnel included Savva Mamontov
(producer), and Mikhail Lentovsky (stage director). Giuseppe Truffi conducted. The cast included Anton Sekar-Romansky (Pretender) and Serafima Selyuk-Roznatovskaya (Marina). The production ran for 14 performances.
1908, Paris – First performance outside Russia
The Rimsky-Korsakov edition of 1908 premiered on 19 May 1908 at the Paris Opéra
. The Cell Scene preceded the Coronation Scene, the Inn Scene and the Scene in Marina's Boudoir were omitted, and the Kromï Scene preceded the Death Scene. Production personnel included Sergey Dyagilev
(producer), Aleksandr Sanin (stage director), Aleksandr Golovin, Konstantin Yuon
, Alexandre Benois
, and Yevgeniy Lansere
(scene designers), Ulrikh Avranek (chorusmaster), and Ivan Bilibin
(costume designer). Feliks Blumenfeld
conducted. The cast included Feodor Chaliapin
(Boris), Klavdiya Tugarinova (Fyodor), Dagmara Renina (Kseniya), Yelizaveta Petrenko (Nurse), Ivan Alchevsky (Shuysky), Nikolay Kedrov (Shchelkalov), Vladimir Kastorsky (Pimen), Dmitri Smirnov (Pretender), Nataliya Yermolenko-Yuzhina (Marina), Vasiliy Sharonov (Varlaam), Vasiliy Doverin-Kravchenko (Misail), Mitrofan Chuprïnnikov (Yuródivïy), and Khristofor Tolkachev (Nikitich). The production ran for 7 performances.
1913, New York – United States premiere
The United States premiere of the 1908 Rimsky-Korsakov edition took place on 19 March 1913 at the Metropolitan Opera
, and was based on Sergey Dyagilev
's Paris production. The opera was presented in three acts. The Cell Scene preceded the Coronation Scene, the scene in Marina's Boudoir was omitted, and the Kromï Scene preceded the Death Scene. However, the Inn Scene, which was omitted in Paris, was included. Scenery and costume designs were the same as used in Paris in 1908—made in Russia by Golovin, Benois
, and Bilibin
, and shipped from Paris. The opera was sung in Italian. Arturo Toscanini
conducted. The cast included Adamo Didur
(Boris), Anna Case
(Fyodor), Leonora Sparkes
(Kseniya), Maria Duchêne
(Nurse), Angelo Badà
(Shuysky), Vincenzo Reschiglian
(Shchelkalov, Lawicki), Jeanne Maubourg (Innkeeper), Léon Rothier
(Pimen), Paul Althouse
(Pretender), Louise Homer
(Marina), Andrés de Segurola
(Varlaam), Pietro Audisio (Misail), Albert Reiss
(Yuródivïy), Giulio Rossi (Nikitich), Leopoldo Mariani (Boyar-in-Attendance), and Louis Kreidler (Czernikowski).
1913, London – United Kingdom premiere
The United Kingdom premiere of the 1908 Rimsky-Korsakov edition took place on 24 June 1913 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
in London. Production personnel included Sergey Dyagilev
(producer) and Aleksandr Sanin (stage director). Emil Cooper
conducted. The cast included Fyodor Shalyapin (Boris), Mariya Davïdova (Fyodor), Mariya Brian (Kseniya), Yelizaveta Petrenko (Nurse, Innkeeper), Nikolay Andreyev (Shuysky), A. Dogonadze (Shchelkalov), Pavel Andreyev (Pimen), Vasiliy Damayev (Pretender), Yelena Nikolayeva (Marina), Aleksandr Belyanin (Varlaam), Nikolay Bolshakov (Misail), Aleksandr Aleksandrovich (Yuródivïy), and Kapiton Zaporozhets (Nikitich).
1927, Moscow – St. Basil's Scene
The newly published St. Basil's Scene was performed on 18 January 1927 at the Bolshoi Theatre
in the 1926 revision by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
, commissioned in 1925 to accompany the Rimsky-Korsakov edition. Production personnel included Vladimir Lossky (stage director) and Fyodor Fedorovsky
(scene designer). Ariy Pazovsky
conducted. The cast included Ivan Kozlovsky
(Yuródivïy), and Leonid Savransky (Boris). The production ran for 144 performances.
1928, Leningrad – World premiere of the 1869 Original Version
The Original Version of 1869 premiered on 16 February 1928 at the State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet
. Production personnel included Sergey Radlov (stage director), and Vladimir Dmitriev (scene designer). Vladimir Dranishnikov conducted. The cast included Mark Reyzen
(Boris), Aleksandr Kabanov (Shuysky), Ivan Pleshakov (Pimen), Nikolay Pechkovsky (Pretender), Pavel Zhuravlenko (Varlaam), Yekaterina Sabinina (Innkeeper), and V. Tikhiy (Yuródivïy).
1935, London – First performance of the 1869 Original Version outside Russia
The first performance of the 1869 Original Version abroad took place on 30 September 1935 at the Sadler's Wells Theatre
. The opera was sung in English. Lawrance Collingwood
conducted. The cast included Ronald Stear (Boris).
1959, Leningrad – First performance of the Shostakovich orchestration
The premiere of the Dmitriy Shostakovich
orchestration of 1940 of Pavel Lamm's vocal score took place on 4 November 1959 at the Kirov Theatre
. Sergey Yeltsin conducted. The cast included Boris Shtokolov
(Boris).
Note: Musicologists do not agree on the terms used to refer to the two authorial versions of Boris Godunov. Editors Pavel Lamm and Boris Asafyev used "preliminary redaction" and "principal redaction" for the 1st and 2nd versions, respectively, and David Lloyd-Jones
designated them "initial" and "definitive." This article, aiming for utmost objectivity, uses "original" and "revised."
Authorial versions
The Original Version of 1869 is rarely heard. It is distinguished by its fidelity to Pushkin's drama and its almost entirely male cast of soloists. It also adheres more closely to the recitative
opera style (opéra dialogué) of The Stone Guest
and Marriage, and to the ideals of kuchkist
realism
, which include fidelity to text, formlessness, and emphasis on the values of spoken theatre, especially through naturalistic declamation. The unique features of this version include the original Terem Scene, the dramatic scene at the Cathedral of Vasiliy the Blessed (St. Basil's Scene), and several passages the composer later cut to fit his revised conception. The terse Terem Scene of the 1869 version and the unrelieved tension of the two subsequent and final scenes make this version more dramatically effective to some critics (e.g. Boris Asafyev).
The Revised Version of 1872 represents a retreat from the ideals of Kuchkist realism, which had come to be associated with comedy, toward a more exalted, tragic tone, and a conventionally operatic style—a trend that would be continued in the composer's next opera, Khovanshchina
. This version is longer, is richer in musical and theatrical variety, and balances naturalistic declamation with more lyrical vocal lines. The unique features of this version include the revised Terem Scene, which presents the title character in a more tragic and melodrama
tic light, the conventionally operatic Polish act (Act 3), which concludes in a love scene not found in Pushkin's drama, and the novel final scene of anarchy (the Kromï Scene), also a departure from Pushkin. This version has made a strong comeback in recent years, and has become the dominant version.
The Piano Vocal Score of 1874 was the first published form of the opera, and is essentially the 1872 version with some minor musical variants and small cuts. The 1874 vocal score does not constitute a 'third version', but rather a refinement of the 1872 Revised Version.
The distribution of scenes in the authentic versions is as follows:
Upon revising the opera, Mussorgsky initially replaced the St. Basil's Scene with the Kromï Scene. However, on the suggestion of Vladimir Nikolsky, he transposed the order of the last two scenes, concluding the opera with the Kromï Scene rather than the Faceted Palace Scene. This gives the overall structure of the 1872 Revised Version the following symmetrical form:
Later, Rimsky-Korsakov transposed the last two scenes back again in his revision. Critics have mentioned that in doing so he shifted the focus of the opera from a tragedy of the Russian people to the tragedy of an individual.
Mussorgsky also rewrote the Terem Scene for the 1872 version, modifying the text, adding new songs and plot devices (the parrot and the clock), modifying the psychological treatment of the title character, and virtually recomposing the music of the entire scene.
Other important modifications in the 1872 version are:
Editions by other hands
The Rimsky-Korsakov Version of 1908 has been the most traditional version over the last century, but has recently been almost entirely eclipsed by Mussorgsky's Revised Version (1872). It resembles the Vocal Score of 1874, but the order of the last two scenes is reversed [see Versions by Other Hands in this article for more details].
Note: Roles designated with an asterisk do not appear in the 1869 Original Version. "Yuródivïy" is often translated as "Simpleton" or "Idiot". However, "Holy Fool" is a more accurate English equivalent. In other roles lists created by Mussorgsky, Pimen is designated a monk (инок), Grigoriy a novice (послушник), Rangoni a Cardinal (кардинал), Varlaam and Misail vagrant-monks (бродяги-чернецы), the Innkeeper a hostess (хозяйка), and Khrushchov a Voyevoda (воевода). Pimen, Grigoriy, Varlaam, and Misail were likely given non-clerical designations to satisfy the censor.
Rimsky-Korsakov orchestration
Shostakovich orchestration
, the interregnum
of relative anarchy following the end of the Ryurik Dynasty
(1598) and preceding the Romanov Dynasty
(1613). Key events are as follows:
Note: The culpability of Boris in the matter of Dmitriy's death can neither be proved nor disproved. Karamzin accepted his responsibility for the crime as fact, and Pushkin and Mussorgsky after him assumed his guilt to be true, at least for the purpose of creating a tragedy in the mould of Shakespeare. Modern historians, however, tend to acquit Boris of the crime.
= Arias and numbers
[ ] = Passages cut from or added to the 1872 Revised Version [see Versions in this article for details]
Setting
Scene 1: The Courtyard of the Novodevichiy Monastery
near Moscow
(1598)
There is a brief introduction foreshadowing the 'Dmitriy Motif'. The curtain opens on a crowd in the courtyard of the monastery, where the weary regent
Boris Godunov
has temporarily retired. Nikitich the police officer orders the assembled people to kneel. He goads them to clamor for Boris to accept the throne. They sing a chorus of supplication ("To whom dost thou abandon us, our father?"). The people are bewildered about their purpose and soon fall to bickering with each other, resuming their entreaties only when the policeman threatens them with his club. Their chorus reaches a feverish climax. Andrey Shchelkalov
, the Secretary of the Duma
, appears from inside the convent, informs the people that Boris still refuses the throne of Russia ("Orthodox folk! The boyar is implacable!"), and requests that they pray that he will relent. An approaching procession of pilgrims sings a hymn ("Glory to Thee, Creator on high"), exhorting the people to crush the spirit of anarchy in the land, take up holy icons, and go to meet the Tsar. They disappear into the monastery.
Scene 2: [Cathedral] Square
in the Moscow Kremlin
(1598).
The orchestral introduction is based on bell motifs. From the porch of the Cathedral of the Dormition
, Prince Shuysky exhorts the people to glorify Tsar Boris. As the people sing a great chorus of praise ("Like the beautiful sun in the sky, glory"), a solemn procession of boyar
s exits the cathedral. The people kneel. Boris appears on the porch of the cathedral. The shouts of "Glory!" reach a crescendo and subside. Boris delivers a brief monologue
("My soul grieves") betraying a feeling of ominous foreboding. He prays for God's blessing, and hopes to be a good and just ruler. He invites the people to a great feast, and then proceeds to the Cathedral of the Archangel
to kneel at the tombs of Russia's past rulers. The people wish Boris a long life ("Glory! Glory! Glory!"). A crowd breaks toward the cathedral. The police officers struggle to maintain order. The people resume their shouts of "Glory!"
[within the Moscow Kremlin] (1603)
Pimen, a venerable monk, writes a chronicle ("Yet one last tale") of Russian history. The young novice Grigoriy awakes from a horrible (and prophetic) dream, which he relates to Pimen, in which he climbed a high tower, was mocked by the people of Moscow, and fell. Pimen advises him to fast and pray. Grigoriy regrets that he retired so soon from worldly affairs to become a monk. He envies Pimen's early life of adventure. Pimen speaks approvingly of Ivan the Terrible and his son Fyodor, who both exhibited great spiritual devotion, and draws a contrast with Boris, a regicide
.
Upon discovering the similarity in age between himself and the murdered Tsarevich, Grigoriy conceives the idea of posing as the Pretender
. As Pimen departs for Matins
, Grigoriy declares that Boris shall escape neither the judgment of the people, nor that of God.
Scene 2: An Inn on the Lithuanian Border (1603)
There is a brief orchestral introduction based on three prominent themes from this scene.
The vagrants Varlaam and Misail, who are dressed as monks and are begging for alms, and their companion Grigoriy, who is in secular garb, arrive and enter. After exchanging greetings, Varlaam requests some wine. When the Hostess returns with a bottle, he drinks and launches into a ferocious song ("So it was in the city of Kazan") of Ivan the Terrible's siege of Kazan
. The two monks quickly become tipsy, and soon begin to doze. Grigoriy quietly asks the Hostess for directions to the Lithuania
n border. Policemen appear in search of a fugitive heretic monk (Grigoriy) who has run off from the Chudov Monastery
declaring that he will become Tsar in Moscow. Noticing Varlaam's suspicious appearance and behavior, the lead policeman thinks he has found his man. He cannot read the ukaz
(edict) he is carrying, however, so Grigoriy volunteers to read it. He does so, but, eyeing Varlaam carefully, he substitutes Varlaam's description for his own. The policemen quickly seize Varlaam, who protests his innocence and asks to read the ukaz. He haltingly reads the description of the suspect, which of course matches Grigoriy. Grigoriy brandishes a dagger, and leaps out of the window. The men set off in pursuit.
in the Moscow Kremlin
(1605)
Kseniya (or Xenia), clutching a portrait of "Prince Ivan"
, her betrothed who has died, sings a brief mournful aria ("Where are you, my bridegroom?"). Fyodor studies a great map of the Tsardom of Russia
.
Kseniya's nurse assures her that she will soon forget about "Prince Ivan".
Boris abruptly enters, briefly consoles Kseniya, and then sends her and her nurse to their own quarters. Fyodor shows Boris the map of Russia. After encouraging his son to resume his studies, Boris delivers a long and fine soliloquy
("I have attained supreme power").
The boyar-in-attendance brings word of the arrival of Prince Shuysky, and reports a denunciation against him for his intrigues.
Prince Shuysky now enters. Boris insults him, accusing him of conspiring with Pushkin, an ancestor of the poet. Boris threatens Shuysky with a gruesome execution. However, the prince brings grave tidings. A Pretender
has appeared in Lithuania
. Boris angrily demands to know his identity. Shuysky fears the Pretender might attract a following bearing the name of Dmitriy
. Shaken by this revelation, Boris dismisses Fyodor. He orders Shuysky to seal the border with Lithuania, and, clearly on the edge of madness, asks Shuysky whether he has ever heard of dead children rising from their graves to interrogate Tsars. Boris seeks assurance that the dead child the prince had seen in Uglich
was really Dmitriy. Shuysky confirms this in a brief and beautiful aria ("In Uglich, in the cathedral"). But he gives hints that a miracle (incorruptibility
) has occurred. Boris begins choking with guilt and remorse, and gives a sign for Shuysky to depart.
Boris hallucinates (Hallucination or 'Clock' Scene). The spectre of the dead Dmitriy reaches out to him. Addressing the apparition, he denies his responsibility for the crime: "Begone, begone child! I am not thy murderer... the will of the people!" He collapses, praying that God will have mercy on his guilty soul.
[Poland] (1604)
Maidens sing a delicate, sentimental song ("On the blue Vistula
") to entertain Marina as her chambermaid dresses her hair. Marina declares her preference for heroic songs of chivalry. She dismisses everyone. Alone, she sings of her boredom ("How tediously and sluggishly"), of Dmitriy, and of her thirst for adventure, power, and glory. The Jesuit Rangoni enters, bemoans the wretched state of the church, attempts to obtain Marina's promise that when she becomes Tsaritsa
she will convert the heretics
of Moscow (Russian Orthodox Church
) to the true faith (Roman Catholicism), and encourages her to bewitch the Pretender. When Marina wonders why she should do this, Rangoni angrily insists that she stop short of nothing, including sacrificing her honor, to obey the dictates of the church. Marina expresses contempt of his hypocritical insinuations and demands he leave. As Rangoni ominously tells her she is in the thrall of infernal forces, Marina collapses in dread. Rangoni demands her obedience.
Scene 2: Mniszech's Castle in Sandomierz. A Garden. A Fountain. A Moonlit Night (1604)
Woodwind and harp accompany a pensive version of the 'Dmitriy Motif'. The Pretender dreams of an assignation with Marina in the garden of her father's castle. However, to his annoyance, Rangoni finds him. He brings news that Marina longs for him and wishes to speak with him. The Pretender resolves to throw himself at Marina's feet, begging her to be his wife and Tsaritsa. He entreats Rangoni to lead him to Marina. Rangoni, however, first begs the Pretender to consider him a father, allowing him to follow his every step and thought. Despite his mistrust of Rangoni, the Pretender agrees not to part from him if he will only let him see Marina. Rangoni convinces the Pretender to hide as the Polish nobles emerge from the castle dancing a polonaise
(Polonaise). Marina flirts, dancing with an older man. The Poles sing of taking the Muscovite throne, defeating the army of Boris, and capturing him. They return to the castle. The Pretender comes out of hiding, cursing Rangoni. He resolves to abandon wooing Marina and begin his march on Moscow. But then Marina appears and calls to him. He is lovesick. She, however, only wants to know when he will be Tsar, and declares she can only be seduced by a throne and a crown. The Pretender kneels at her feet. She rejects his advances, and, attempting to spur him to action, dismisses him, calling him a lackey. Having reached his limit, he tells her he will depart the next day to lead his army to Moscow and to his father's throne. Furthermore, as Tsar he will take pleasure in watching her come crawling back looking for her own lost throne, and will command everyone to laugh at her. She quickly reverses course, tells him she adores him, and they sing a duet ("O Tsarevich, I implore you"). Rangoni observes the amorous couple from afar, and, joining them in a brief trio, cynically rejoices in his victory.
A crowd mills about before the Cathedral of the Intercession
(the Temple of Vasiliy the Blessed
) in Red Square
. Many are beggars, and policemen occasionally appear. A group of men enters, discussing the anathema
the deacon
had declared on Grishka (Grigoriy) Otrepyev in the mass. They identify Grishka as the Tsarevich. With growing excitement they sing of the advance of his forces to Kromï, of his intent to retake his father's throne, and of the defeat he will deal to the Godunovs. A yuródivïy enters, pursued by urchins. He sings a nonsensical song ("The moon is flying, the kitten is crying"). The urchins greet him and rap on his metal hat. The yuródivïy has a kopek
, which the urchins promptly steal. He whines pathetically. Boris and his retinue exit the Cathedral. The boyars distribute alms
. In a powerful chorus ("Benefactor father (Give us bread)"), the hungry people beg for bread. As the chorus subsides, the yuródivïy's cries are heard. Boris asks why he cries. The yuródivïy reports the theft of his kopek and asks Boris to order the boys' slaughter, just as he did in the case of the Tsarevich. Shuysky wants the yuródivïy seized, but Boris instead asks for the holy man's prayers. As Boris exits, the yurodivïy declares that the Mother of God
will not allow him to pray for Tsar Herod
(see Massacre of the Innocents
). The yuródivïy then sings his lament ("Flow, flow, bitter tears!") about the fate of Russia.
Scene 2 [1869 Version] / Scene 1
[1872 version]: The Faceted Palace
in the Moscow Kremlin
(1605)
A session of the Duma
is in progress.
After some arguments, the boyars agree ("Well, let's put it to a vote, boyars"), in a powerful chorus, that the Pretender and his sympathizers should be executed. Shuysky, whom they distrust, arrives with an interesting story. Upon leaving the Tsar's presence, he observed Boris attempting to drive away the ghost of the dead Tsarevich, exclaiming: "Begone, begone child!" The boyars accuse Shuysky of spreading lies. However, a dishevelled Boris now enters, echoing Shuysky: "Begone child!" The boyars are horrified. After Boris comes to his senses, Shuysky informs him that a humble old man craves an audience. Pimen enters and tells the story ("One day, at the evening hour") of a blind man who heard the voice of the Tsarevich in a dream. Dmitry instructed him to go to Uglich
and pray at his grave, for he has become a miracle worker in heaven. The man did as instructed and regained his sight. This story is the final blow for Boris. He calls for his son, declares he is dying ("Farewell, my son, I am dying"), gives Fyodor final counsel, and prays for God's blessing on his children. In a very dramatic scene ("The bell! The funeral bell!"), he dies.
Scene 2 [1872 Version only]: A Forest Glade near Kromy (1605)
Tempestuous music accompanies the entry of a crowd of vagabonds who have captured the boyar Khrushchov. The crowd taunts him, then bows in mock homage ("Not a falcon flying in the heavens"). The yuródivïy enters, pursued by urchins. He sings a nonsensical song ("The moon is flying, the kitten is crying"). The urchins greet him and rap on his metal hat. The yuródivïy has a kopek, which the urchins promptly steal. He whines pathetically. Varlaam and Misail are heard in the distance singing of the crimes of Boris and his henchmen ("The sun and moon have gone dark"). They enter. The crowd gets worked up to a frenzy ("Our bold daring has broken free, gone on a rampage") denouncing Boris. Two Jesuits are heard in the distance chanting in Latin ("Domine, Domine, salvum fac"), praying that God will save Dmitriy. They enter. At the instigation of Varlaam and Misail, the vagabonds prepare to hang the Jesuits, who appeal to the Holy Virgin
for aid. Processional music heralds the arrival of Dmitriy and his forces. Varlaam and Misail glorify him ("Glory to thee, Tsarevich!") along with the crowd. The Pretender calls those persecuted by Godunov to his side. He frees Khrushchov, and calls on all to march on Moscow. All exeunt except the yuródivïy, who sings a plaintive song ("Flow, flow, bitter tears!") of the arrival of the enemy and of woe to Russia.
As the most daring and innovative member of the Mighty Handful, Mussorgsky frequently became the target of conservative critics and rival composers, and was often derided for his supposedly clumsy and crude musical idiom. After the premiere of Boris Godunov, influential critic Herman Laroche wrote:
Reviews of the premiere performance of Boris Godunov were for the most part hostile. Some critics dismissed the work as "chaotic" and "a cacophony". Even his friends Mily Balakirev
and César Cui
, leading members of the Mighty Handful, minimized his accomplishment. Unable to overlook Mussorgsky's "trespasses against the conventional musical grammar of the time", they failed to recognize the giant step forward in musical and dramatic expression that Boris Godunov represented. Cui betrayed Mussorgsky in a notoriously scathing review of the premiere performance:
Although he found much to admire, particularly the Inn Scene and the Song of the Parrot, he reproved the composer for a poorly constructed libretto, finding the opera to exhibit a lack of cohesion between scenes. He claimed that Mussorgsky was so deficient in the ability to write instrumental music that he dispensed with composing a prelude, and that he had "borrowed the cheap method of characterization by leitmotives from Wagner."
Other composers were even more censorious. Pyotr Tchaikovsky
wrote in a letter to his brother Modest
:
Of the critics who evaluated the new opera, only the 19-year-old critic Vladimir Baskin defended Mussorgsky's skill as a composer. Writing under the pen name "Foma Pizzicato", Baskin wrote,
Although Boris Godunov is usually praised for its originality, dramatic choruses, sharply delineated characters, and for the powerful psychological portrayal of Tsar Boris, it has received an inordinate amount of criticism for technical shortcomings: weak or faulty harmony
, part-writing, and orchestration
. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
said:
The perception that Boris needed correction due to Mussorgsky's poverty of technique prompted Rimsky-Korsakov to revise it after his death. His edition supplanted the composer's Revised Version of 1872 in Russia, and launched the work abroad, remaining the preferred edition for some 75 years (see Versions by Other Hands in this article for more details). For decades, critics and scholars pressing for the performance of Mussorgsky's own versions fought an often losing battle against the conservatism of conductors and singers, who, raised on the plush Rimsky-Korsakov edition, found it impossible to adapt to Mussorgsky's comparatively unrefined and bleak original scores.
Recently, however, a new appreciation for the rugged individuality of Mussorgsky's style has resulted in increasing performances and recording of his original versions. Musicologist Gerald Abraham
wrote:
For many, Boris Godunov is the greatest of all Russian operas because of its originality, drama, and characterization, regardless of any cosmetic imperfections it may possess.
However, because the composer transferred the episode of the Yurodivïy and the urchins from the St. Basil's Scene to the Kromï Scene when revising the opera, restoring the St. Basil's Scene to its former location creates a problem of duplicate episodes, which can be partially solved by cuts. Most performances that follow this practice cut the robbery of the Yurodivïy in the Kromï Scene, but duplicate his lament that ends each scene.
The Rimsky-Korsakov Version is often augmented with the Ippolitov-Ivanov
reorchestration of the St. Basil's Scene (commissioned by the Bolshoi Theatre
in 1925, composed in 1926, and first performed in 1927).
Conductors may elect to restore the cuts the composer himself made in writing the 1872 version [see Versions in this article for more details]. The 1997 Mariinsky Theatre recording under Valery Gergiev
is the first and only to present the 1869 Original Version side by side with the 1872 Revised Version, and, it would seem, attempts to set a new standard for musicological authenticity. However, although it possesses many virtues, the production fails to scrupulously separate the two versions, admitting elements of the 1872 version into the 1869 recording, and failing to observe cuts the composer made in the 1872 version.
Critics argue that the practice of restoring the St. Basil's scene and all the cuts that Mussorgsky made when revising the opera—that is, creating a "supersaturated" version—can have negative consequences, believing that it destroys the symmetrical scene structure of the Revised Version, it undermines the composer's carefully devised and subtle system of leitmotiv deployment, and results in the overexposure of the Dmitriy motive.
After Mussorgsky's death in 1881, his friend Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
undertook to put his scores in order, completing and editing Khovanshchina
for publication (1883) reconstructing Night on Bald Mountain
(1886), and "correcting" some songs. Next, he turned to Boris.
He experimented first with the Polonaise, temporarily scoring it for a Wagner-sized orchestra in 1889. In 1892 he revised the Coronation Scene, and, working from the 1874 Vocal Score, completed the remainder of the opera, although with significant cuts, by 1896.
Rimsky-Korsakov compiled a new edition in 1908, this time restoring the cuts, and making some significant changes:
These revisions clearly went beyond mere reorchestration. He made substantial modifications to harmony, melody, dynamics, etc., even changing the order of scenes.
Rimsky-Korsakov immediately came under fire from some critics for altering Boris, particularly in France, where his revision was introduced. The defense usually made by his supporters was that without his ministrations, Mussorgsky's opera would have faded from the repertory due to difficulty in appreciating his raw and uncompromising idiom. Therefore, Rimsky-Korsakov was justified in making improvements to keep the work alive and increase the public's awareness of Mussorgsky's melodic and dramatic genius.
The Rimsky-Korsakov version remained the one usually performed in Russia, even after Mussorgsky's earthier original (1872) regained its place in Western opera houses. The Bolshoi Theatre has only recently embraced the composer's own version.
Dmitri Shostakovich
worked on Boris Godunov in 1939–1940 on a commission from the Bolshoi Theatre
for a new production of the opera. A conflation of the 1868 and 1872 versions had been published by Pavel Lamm and aroused keen interest in the piece. However, it did not erase doubts as to whether Mussorgsky's own orchestration was playable. The invasion of Russia by Nazi Germany prevented this production from taking place, and it was not until 1959 that Shostakovich's version of the score was premiered.
To Shostakovich, Mussorgsky was successful with solo instrumental timbres in soft passages but did not fare as well with louder moments for the whole orchestra. Shostakovich explained:
Shostakovich confined himself largely to reorchestrating the opera, and was more respectful of the composer's unique melodic and harmonic style. However, Shostakovich greatly increased the contributions of the woodwind and especially brass instruments to the score, a significant departure from the practice of Mussorgsky, who exercised great restraint in his instrumentation, preferring to utilize the individual qualities of these instruments for specific purposes. Shostakovich also aimed for a greater symphonic development, wanting the orchestra to do more than simply accompany the singers.
Shostakovich remembered Alexander Glazunov
telling him how Mussorgsky himself played scenes from Boris at the piano. Mussorgsky's renditions, according to Glazunov, were brilliant and powerful—qualities Shostakovich felt did not come through in the orchestration of much of Boris. Shostakovich, who had known the opera since his student days at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, assumed that Mussorgsky's orchestral intentions were correct but that Mussorgsky simply could not realize them:
One of those "old shore" moments was the large monastery bell in the scene in the monk's cell. Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov both use the gong. To Shostakovich, this was too elemental and simplistic to be effective dramatically, since this bell showed the atmosphere of the monk's estragement. "When the bell tolls," Shostakovich told Solomon Volkov
, "it's a reminder that there are powers mightier than man, that you can't escape the judgment of history." Therefore, Shostakovich reorchestrated the bell's tolling by the simultaneous playing of seven instruments—bass clarinet, double bassoon, French horns, gong, harps, piano, and double basses (at an octave). To Shostakovich, this combination of instruments sounded more like a real bell.
Shostakovich admitted Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestration was more colorful than his own and used brighter timbres. However, he also felt that Rimsky-Korsakov chopped up the melodic lines too much and, by blending melody and subvoices, may have subverted much of Mussorgsky's intent. Shostakovich also felt that Rimsky-Korsakov did not use the orchestra flexibly enough to follow the characters' mood changes, instead making the orchestra calmer, more balanced.
created a version in which he removed most of Rimsky-Korsakov's additions and reorchestrations, and fleshed out some other parts of Mussorgsky's original orchestration. This version had its first performance in 1997 at the Metropolitan Opera
, New York, under Valery Gergiev
.
Other
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
by Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
(1839–1881). The work was composed between 1868 and 1873 in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia. It is Mussorgsky's only completed opera and is considered his masterpiece. Its subjects are the Russian ruler Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov was de facto regent of Russia from c. 1585 to 1598 and then the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. The end of his reign saw Russia descend into the Time of Troubles.-Early years:...
, who reigned as Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
(1598 to 1605) during the Time of Troubles
Time of Troubles
The Time of Troubles was a period of Russian history comprising the years of interregnum between the death of the last Russian Tsar of the Rurik Dynasty, Feodor Ivanovich, in 1598, and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613. In 1601-1603, Russia suffered a famine that killed one-third...
, and his nemesis
Nemesis (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Nemesis , also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon, was the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris . The Greeks personified vengeful fate as a remorseless goddess: the goddess of revenge...
, the False Dmitriy
False Dmitriy I
False Dmitriy I was the Tsar of Russia from 21 July 1605 until his death on 17 May 1606 under the name of Dimitriy Ioannovich . He is sometimes referred to under the usurped title of Dmitriy II...
(reigned 1605 to 1606). The Russian-language libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
was written by the composer, and is based on the "dramatic chronicle"
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
Boris Godunov by Aleksandr Pushkin, and, in the Revised Version of 1872, on Nikolay Karamzin's History of the Russian State.
Boris Godunov, among major operas, shares with Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Don Carlos
Don Carlos
Don Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
(1867) the distinction of having the most complex creative history and the greatest wealth of alternative material. The composer created two versions—the Original Version of 1869, which was rejected for production by the Imperial Theatres, and the Revised Version of 1872, which received its first performance in 1874 in Saint Petersburg. These versions constitute two distinct ideological conceptions, not two variations of a single plan.
Boris Godunov has seldom been performed in either of the two forms left by the composer, frequently being subjected to cuts, recomposition, re-orchestration, transposition of scenes, conflation of the original and revised versions, or translation into another language.
Several composers, chief among them Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
and Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, have created new editions of the opera to "correct" perceived technical weaknesses in the composer's original scores. Although these versions held the stage for decades, Mussorgsky's individual harmonic style and orchestration are now valued for their originality, and revisions by other hands have fallen out of fashion.
Boris Godunov comes closer to the status of a repertory piece than any other Russian opera
Russian opera
Russian opera is the art of opera in Russia. Operas by composers of Russian origin, written or staged outside of Russia, also belong to this category, as well as the operas of foreign composers written or intended for the Russian scene. These are not only Russian-language operas...
, even Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
's Eugene Onegin
Eugene Onegin (opera)
Eugene Onegin, Op. 24, is an opera in 3 acts , by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto was written by Konstantin Shilovsky and the composer and his brother Modest, and is based on the novel in verse by Alexander Pushkin....
, and is the most recorded Russian opera.
Composition history
Note: Dates provided in this article for events taking place in Russia before 1918 are Old Style.By the close of 1868, Mussorgsky had already started and abandoned two important opera projects—the antique, exotic, romantic tragedy Salammbô
Salammbô (Mussorgsky)
Salammbô [alternative title: The Libyan ] is an unfinished opera in 4 acts by Modest Mussorgsky. The fragmentary Russian language libretto was written by the composer, and is based on the novel Salammbô by Gustave Flaubert , but includes verses taken from poems by Vasily Zhukovsky, Apollon Maykov,...
, written under the influence of Alexander Serov
Alexander Serov
Alexander Nikolayevich Serov – was a Russian composer and music critic. He and his wife Valentina were the parents of painter Valentin Serov...
's Judith
Judith (Serov)
Judith , is an opera in five acts, composed by Alexander Serov during 1861-1863. Derived from renditions of the story of Judith from the Old Testament Apocrypha, the Russian libretto, though credited to the composer, has a complicated history . The premiere took place in 1863 in Saint Petersburg...
, and the contemporary, Russian, anti-romantic farce Marriage, influenced by Alexander Dargomyzhsky
Alexander Dargomyzhsky
Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky was a 19th century Russian composer. He bridged the gap in Russian opera composition between Mikhail Glinka and the later generation of The Five and Tchaikovsky....
's The Stone Guest
The Stone Guest (Dargomyzhsky)
The Stone Guest is an opera in three acts by Alexander Dargomyzhsky. The libretto was taken almost verbatim from Alexander Pushkin's like-named play in blank verse , with slight changes in wording and the interpolation of two songs indicated in the play...
. Mussorgsky's next project would be a very original and successful synthesis of the opposing styles of these two experiments—the romantic-lyrical style of Salammbô, and the realistic style of Marriage .
In the autumn of 1868, Vladimir Nikolsky, a professor of Russian history
History of Russia
The history of Russia begins with that of the Eastern Slavs and the Finno-Ugric peoples. The state of Garðaríki , which was centered in Novgorod and included the entire areas inhabited by Ilmen Slavs, Veps and Votes, was established by the Varangian chieftain Rurik in 862...
and language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, and an authority on Pushkin, suggested to Mussorgsky the idea of composing an opera on the subject of Pushkin's drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
Boris Godunov. Boris the play, modelled on Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
histories
Shakespearean history
In the First Folio, the plays of William Shakespeare were grouped into three categories: comedies, histories, and tragedies. This categorisation has become established, although some critics have argued for other categories such as romances and problem plays. The histories were those plays based on...
, was written in 1825 and published in 1831, but was not approved for performance by the state censors until 1866, almost 30 years after the author's death. Production was permitted on condition that certain scenes were cut. Although enthusiasm for the work was high, Mussorgsky faced a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to his plans in that an Imperial ukaz of 1837 forbade the portrayal in opera of Russian Tsars (amended in 1872 to include only Romanov Tsars).
When Lyudmila Shestakova, the sister of Mikhail Glinka
Mikhail Glinka
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka , was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music...
, learned of Mussorgsky's plans, she presented him with a volume of Pushkin's dramatic works, interleaved with blank pages and bound, and using this Mussorgsky began work in October 1868 preparing his own libretto. Pushkin's drama consists of 25 scenes, written predominantly in blank verse
Blank verse
Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the sixteenth century" and Paul Fussell has claimed that "about three-quarters of all English poetry is in blank verse."The first...
. Mussorgsky adapted the most theatrically effective scenes, mainly those featuring the title character, along with a few other key scenes (Novodevichy, Cell, Inn), often preserving Pushkin's verses.
Mussorgsky worked rapidly, composing first the vocal score
Vocal score
A vocal score or piano-vocal score is a music score of an opera, or a vocal or choral composition with orchestra such as an oratorio or cantata, in which the vocal parts are written out in full but the accompaniment is reduced and adapted for keyboard...
in about nine months (finished 18 July 1869), and completed the full score five months later (15 December 1869), at the same time working as a civil servant. In 1870, he submitted the libretto to the state censor for examination, and the score to the literary and music committees of the Imperial Theatres. However, the opera was rejected (10 February 1871) by a vote of 6 to 1, ostensibly for its lack of an important female role. Lyudmila Shestakova recalled the reply made by conductor Eduard Nápravník
Eduard Nápravník
Eduard Francevič Nápravník was a Czech conductor and composer, who settled in Russia and is best known for his leading role in Russian musical life as the principal conductor of the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg for many decades...
and stage manager Gennadiy Kondratyev of the Mariinsky Theatre
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...
in response to her question of whether Boris had been accepted for production:
Other questionable accounts, such as Rimsky-Korsakov's, allege that there were additional reasons for rejection, such as the work's novelty:
Meanwhile, Pushkin's drama (18 of the published 24 scenes, condensed into 16) finally received its first performance in 1870 at the Mariinsky Theatre
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...
, three years in advance of the premiere of the opera in the same venue, using the same scene designs (by Matvey Shishkov) that would be recycled in the opera.
Revised Version
In 1871, Mussorgsky set about recasting and expanding the opera with enthusiasm, ultimately going beyond the requirements of the directorate of the Imperial Theatres, which called simply for the addition of a female role and a scene to contain it. Nevertheless, he added three scenes (the two Sandomierz scenes and the Kromï Scene), cut one (the scene at the Cathedral of Vasiliy the Blessed), and recomposed another (the Terem Scene). The modifications resulted in the addition of an important prima donna
Prima donna
Originally used in opera or Commedia dell'arte companies, "prima donna" is Italian for "first lady." The term was used to designate the leading female singer in the opera company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano...
role (Marina Mniszech), the expansion of existing female roles (additional songs for the Hostess, Fyodor, and the Nurse), and the expansion of the first tenor role (the Pretender). Mussorgsky augmented his adaptation of Pushkin's drama with his own lyrics, assisted by a study of the monumental History of the Russian State by Karamzin, to whom Pushkin's drama is dedicated.
The Revised Version was finished in 1872 (vocal score, 14 December 1871; full score 23 June 1872), and submitted to the Imperial Theatres in the autumn.
Most Mussorgsky biographers claim that the directorate of the Imperial Theatres also rejected the revised version of Boris Godunov, even providing a date: 6 May 1872 (Calvocoressi), or 29 October 1872 (Lloyd-Jones). Recent researchers point out that there is insufficient evidence to support this claim, emphasizing that in his revision Mussorgsky had rectified the only objection the Directorate is known to have made to justify their original rejection.
In any case, Mussorgsky's friends took matters into their own hands, arranging the performance of three scenes (the Inn and both Sandomierz scenes) at the Mariinsky Theatre on 5 February 1873, as a benefit for stage manager Gennadiy Kondratyev. César Cui's
César Cui
César Antonovich Cui was a Russian of French and Lithuanian descent. His profession was as an army officer and a teacher of fortifications; his avocational life has particular significance in the history of music, in that he was a composer and music critic; in this sideline he is known as a...
review noted the audience's enthusiasm:
The success of this performance led V. Bessel and Co.
V. Bessel and Co.
V. Bessel and Co. was a musical firm founded in 1869 in St Petersburg by Vasily Vasil’yevich Bessel . His brother N. V. Bessel was a co-owner of the firm....
to announce the publication of the piano vocal score of Mussorgsky's opera, issued in January 1874.
Premiere
The triumphant 1873 performance of three scenes paved the way for the first performance of the opera, which was accepted for production on 22 October 1873. The premiere took place on 27 January 1874, as a benefit for prima donna Yuliya Platonova. The Mariinsky Theatre was sold out, and the performance was a great success with the public. Mussorgsky had to take some 20 curtain calls; students sang choruses from the opera in the street. This time, however, the critical reaction was exceedingly hostile [see Critical Reception in this article for details].
Initial performances of Boris Godunov featured significant cuts. The entire Cell Scene was cut from the first performance, not, as is often supposed, due to censorship, but because Nápravník wished to avoid a lengthy performance, and frequently cut episodes he felt were ineffective. Later performances tended to be even more heavily cut, including the additional removal of the Kromï scene, likely for political reasons (starting 20 October 1876, the 13th performance). After protracted difficulties in obtaining the production of his opera, Mussorgsky was compliant with Nápravník's demands, and even defended these mutilations to his own supporters.
Boris Godunov was performed 21 times during the composer's lifetime, and 5 times after his death (in 1881) before being withdrawn from the repertory on 8 November 1882. When Mussorgsky's subsequent opera Khovanshchina
Khovanshchina
Khovanshchina is an opera in five acts by Modest Mussorgsky. The work was written between 1872 and 1880 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The composer wrote the libretto based on historical sources...
was rejected for production in 1883, the Imperial Opera Committee reputedly said: "One radical opera by Mussorgsky is enough." Boris Godunov did not return to the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre until 9 November 1904, when the Rimsky-Korsakov Edition was presented under conductor Felix Blumenfeld
Felix Blumenfeld
Felix Mikhailovich Blumenfeld was a Russian composer, conductor, pianist and teacher.He was born in Kovalevka, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire , the son of Austrian Mikhail Frantsevich Blumenfeld and the Polish Marie Szymanowska, and studied composition at the St...
with bass Fyodor Shalyapin in the title role.
Boris Godunov and the Imperial Family
The reported antipathy of the Imperial family to Mussorgsky's opera is supported by the following accounts by Platonova and Stasov:Performance history
Note: Dates provided in this article for events taking place in Russia before 1918 are Old StyleOld Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...
.
Original interpreters
1872, Saint Petersburg – Excerpts
The Coronation Scene was performed on 5 February 1872 by the Russian Music Society, conducted by Eduard Nápravník
Eduard Nápravník
Eduard Francevič Nápravník was a Czech conductor and composer, who settled in Russia and is best known for his leading role in Russian musical life as the principal conductor of the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg for many decades...
. The Polonaise from act 3 was performed (without chorus) on 3 April 1872 by the Free School of Music, conducted by Mily Balakirev
Mily Balakirev
Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev ,Russia was still using old style dates in the 19th century, and information sources used in the article sometimes report dates as old style rather than new style. Dates in the article are taken verbatim from the source and therefore are in the same style as the source...
.
1873, Saint Petersburg – Three scenes
Three scenes from the opera—the Inn Scene, the Scene in Marina's Boudoir, and the Fountain Scene—were performed on 5 February 1873 at the Mariinsky Theatre. Eduard Nápravník conducted. The cast included Darya Leonova (Innkeeper), Fyodor Komissarzhevsky
Fyodor Petrovich Komissarzhevsky
Fyodor Petrovich Komissarzhevsky was a Russian opera singer and teacher of voice and stagecraft. A leading tenor at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, he created many roles in Russian operas, including the Pretender in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and the title role in Tchaikovsky's Vakula...
(Pretender), Osip Petrov
Osip Petrov
Osip Afanasievich Petrov was a Russian operatic bass-baritone of great range and renown whose career centred on St Petersburg.He started his career by singing in a church chorus...
(Varlaam), Vasily Vasilyev, "Vasilyev II" (Misail), Mikhail Sariotti (Police Officer), Yuliya Platonova (Marina), Josef Paleček (Rangoni), and Feliks Krzesiński (Old Polish Noble).
1874, Saint Petersburg – World premiere
The Revised Version of 1872 received its world premiere on 27 January 1874 at the Mariinsky Theatre
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...
. The Cell Scene was omitted. The Novodevichiy and Coronation scenes were combined into one continuous scene: "The Call of Boris to the Tsardom". The scenes were grouped in five acts as follows:
- Act 1: "The Call of Boris to the Tsardom" and "Inn"
- Act 2: "With Tsar Boris"
- Act 3: "Marina's Boudoir" and "At the Fountain"
- Act 4: "The Death of Boris"
- Act 5: "The Pretender near Kromï"
Production personnel included Gennadiy Kondratyev (stage director), Ivan Pomazansky (chorus master), Matvey Shishkov, Mikhail Bocharov, and Ivan Andreyev (scene designers), and Vasiliy Prokhorov (costume designer). Eduard Nápravník conducted. The cast included Ivan Melnikov (Boris), Aleksandra Krutikova (Fyodor), Wilhelmina Raab (Kseniya), Olga Shryoder (nurse), Vasiliy Vasilyev, "Vasilyev II" (Shuysky), Vladimir Sobolev (Shchelkalov), Vladimir Vasilyev, "Vasilyev I" (Pimen, Lawicki), Fyodor Komissarzhevsky
Fyodor Petrovich Komissarzhevsky
Fyodor Petrovich Komissarzhevsky was a Russian opera singer and teacher of voice and stagecraft. A leading tenor at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, he created many roles in Russian operas, including the Pretender in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and the title role in Tchaikovsky's Vakula...
(Pretender), Yuliya Platonova (Marina), Josef Paleček (Rangoni), Osip Petrov
Osip Petrov
Osip Afanasievich Petrov was a Russian operatic bass-baritone of great range and renown whose career centred on St Petersburg.He started his career by singing in a church chorus...
(Varlaam), Pavel Dyuzhikov (Misail), Antonina Abarinova (Innkeeper), Pavel Bulakhov (Yuródivïy), Mikhail Sariotti (Nikitich), Lyadov (Mityukha), Sobolev (Boyar-in-Attendance), Matveyev (Khrushchov), and Sobolev (Czernikowski). The production ran for 26 performances over 9 years.
The premiere established traditions that have influenced subsequent Russian productions (and many abroad as well):
- Cuts made to shorten what is perceived as an overlong work
- Declamatory and histrionic singing by the title character, often degenerating in climactic moments into shouting (initiated by Ivan Melnikov, and later reinforced by Fyodor Shalyapin)
- Realistic and historically accurate sets and costumes, employing very little stylization
1879, Saint Petersburg – Cell Scene
The Cell Scene (Revised Version) was first performed on 16 January 1879 in Kononov Hall, at a concert of the Free School of Music, in the presence of Mussorgsky. Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov conducted. The cast included Vladimir Vasilyev, "Vasilyev I" (Pimen), and Vasiliy Vasilyev, "Vasilyev II" (Pretender).
1888, Moscow – Bolshoy Theatre premiere
The Revised Version of 1872 received its Moscow premiere on 16 December 1888 at the Bolshoy Theatre. The Cell and Kromï scenes were omitted. Production personnel included Anton Bartsal (stage director), and Karl Valts (scene designer). Ippolit Altani
Ippolit Al'tani
Ippolit Karlovich Al'tani was a Russian conductor, choirmaster and violinist.-Biography :...
conducted. The cast included Bogomir Korsov
Bogomir Korsov
Bogomir Bogomirovich Korsov, was a Russian baritone opera singer....
(Boris), Nadezhda Salina (Fyodor), Aleksandra Karatayeva (Kseniya), O. Pavlova (Nurse), Anton Bartsal (Shuysky), Pyotr Figurov (Shchelkalov), Ivan Butenko (Pimen), Lavrentiy Donskoy (Pretender), Mariya Klimentova (Marina), Pavel Borisov (Rangoni), Vladimir Streletsky (Varlaam), Mikhail Mikhaylov (Misail), Vera Gnucheva (Innkeeper), and Aleksandr Dodonov
Alexander Dodonov
Alexander Mikhailovich Dodonov was a Russian opera singer. Vocally, he is best described as a lyrical and dramatic tenor....
(Boyar-in-attendance). The production ran for 10 performances.
1896, Saint Petersburg – Premiere of the Rimsky-Korsakov edition
The Rimsky-Korsakov edition premiered on 28 November 1896 in the Great Hall of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory
Saint Petersburg Conservatory
The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory is a music school in Saint Petersburg. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.-History:...
. Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov conducted. The cast included Mikhail Lunacharsky (Boris), Gavriil Morskoy (Pretender), and Fyodor Stravinsky
Fyodor Stravinsky
Fyodor Ignatievich Stravinsky ) was a Russian bass opera singer and actor. He was the father of Igor Stravinsky and the grandfather of Soulima Stravinsky....
(Varlaam). The production ran for 4 performances.
1898, Moscow – Fyodor Shalyapin as Boris
Bass Fyodor Shalyapin first appeared as Boris on 7 December 1898 at the Solodovnikov Theatre
Private Opera
The Private Opera , also known as:*The Russian Private Opera ;*Moscow Private Russian Opera, ;*Mamontov's Private Russian Opera in Moscow ;*Korotkov's Theatre ;*Vinter's Theatre ;*Private Opera Society ; and...
in a Private Russian Opera production. The Rimsky-Korsakov edition of 1896 was performed. Production personnel included Savva Mamontov
Savva Mamontov
Savva Ivanovich Mamontov was a famous Russian industrialist, merchant, entrepreneur, and patron of the arts.-Biography:He was a son of the wealthy merchant and industrialist Ivan Feodorovich Mamontov and Maria Tikhonovna . In 1841 the family moved to Moscow. From 1852 he studied in St...
(producer), and Mikhail Lentovsky (stage director). Giuseppe Truffi conducted. The cast included Anton Sekar-Romansky (Pretender) and Serafima Selyuk-Roznatovskaya (Marina). The production ran for 14 performances.
1908, Paris – First performance outside Russia
The Rimsky-Korsakov edition of 1908 premiered on 19 May 1908 at the Paris Opéra
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
. The Cell Scene preceded the Coronation Scene, the Inn Scene and the Scene in Marina's Boudoir were omitted, and the Kromï Scene preceded the Death Scene. Production personnel included Sergey Dyagilev
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev , usually referred to outside of Russia as Serge, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise.-Early life and career:...
(producer), Aleksandr Sanin (stage director), Aleksandr Golovin, Konstantin Yuon
Konstantin Yuon
Konstantin Fyodorovich Yuon or Juon was a noted Russian painter and theatre designer associated with the Mir Iskusstva. Later, he co-founded the Union of Russian Artists and the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia.-Biography:...
, Alexandre Benois
Alexandre Benois
Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois , an influential artist, art critic, historian, preservationist, and founding member of Mir iskusstva , an art movement and magazine...
, and Yevgeniy Lansere
Eugene Lanceray
Yevgeny Yevgenyevich Lansere , also spelled Eugene Lanceray , was a Russian graphic artist, painter, sculptor, mosaicist, and illustrator, associated stylistically with Mir iskusstva ....
(scene designers), Ulrikh Avranek (chorusmaster), and Ivan Bilibin
Ivan Bilibin
Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin was a 20th-century illustrator and stage designer who took part in the Mir iskusstva and contributed to the Ballets Russes. Throughout his career, he was inspired by Slavic folklore....
(costume designer). Feliks Blumenfeld
Felix Blumenfeld
Felix Mikhailovich Blumenfeld was a Russian composer, conductor, pianist and teacher.He was born in Kovalevka, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire , the son of Austrian Mikhail Frantsevich Blumenfeld and the Polish Marie Szymanowska, and studied composition at the St...
conducted. The cast included Feodor Chaliapin
Feodor Chaliapin
Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin was a Russian opera singer. The possessor of a large and expressive bass voice, he enjoyed an important international career at major opera houses and is often credited with establishing the tradition of naturalistic acting in his chosen art form.During the first phase...
(Boris), Klavdiya Tugarinova (Fyodor), Dagmara Renina (Kseniya), Yelizaveta Petrenko (Nurse), Ivan Alchevsky (Shuysky), Nikolay Kedrov (Shchelkalov), Vladimir Kastorsky (Pimen), Dmitri Smirnov (Pretender), Nataliya Yermolenko-Yuzhina (Marina), Vasiliy Sharonov (Varlaam), Vasiliy Doverin-Kravchenko (Misail), Mitrofan Chuprïnnikov (Yuródivïy), and Khristofor Tolkachev (Nikitich). The production ran for 7 performances.
1913, New York – United States premiere
The United States premiere of the 1908 Rimsky-Korsakov edition took place on 19 March 1913 at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, and was based on Sergey Dyagilev
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev , usually referred to outside of Russia as Serge, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise.-Early life and career:...
's Paris production. The opera was presented in three acts. The Cell Scene preceded the Coronation Scene, the scene in Marina's Boudoir was omitted, and the Kromï Scene preceded the Death Scene. However, the Inn Scene, which was omitted in Paris, was included. Scenery and costume designs were the same as used in Paris in 1908—made in Russia by Golovin, Benois
Alexandre Benois
Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois , an influential artist, art critic, historian, preservationist, and founding member of Mir iskusstva , an art movement and magazine...
, and Bilibin
Ivan Bilibin
Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin was a 20th-century illustrator and stage designer who took part in the Mir iskusstva and contributed to the Ballets Russes. Throughout his career, he was inspired by Slavic folklore....
, and shipped from Paris. The opera was sung in Italian. Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
conducted. The cast included Adamo Didur
Adamo Didur
Adamo Didur was a top-class Polish operatic bass vocalist. He sang extensively in opera in Europe and appeared at New York's Metropolitan Opera from 1908 to 1932.-Career:...
(Boris), Anna Case
Anna Case
Anna Case was an American soprano. She recorded with Thomas Alva Edison, who used her voice extensively in "tone tests" of whether a live audience could tell the difference between the actual singer and a recording...
(Fyodor), Leonora Sparkes
Leonora Sparkes
Leonora Sparkes was the British mezzo-soprano for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in the 1910s.-Biography:She was born in 1883 in England...
(Kseniya), Maria Duchêne
Maria Duchêne
Maria Duchêne-Billiard was a French contralto of the Metropolitan Opera from 1912 to 1916. She portrayed such roles as Amneris in Aida, Giulietta in The Tales of Hoffmann, Lola in Cavalleria rusticana, Maddalena in Rigoletto...
(Nurse), Angelo Badà
Angelo Badà
Angelo Badà was an Italian operatic tenor. He had a lengthy association with the Metropolitan Opera of New York City where he gave a total of 2,170 performance in 94 different operas in over 100 different roles from 1908 through 1938. Only two singers in the Met's history have made more...
(Shuysky), Vincenzo Reschiglian
Vincenzo Reschiglian
Vincenzo Reschiglian was an Italian operatic baritone who specialized in the comprimario repertoire.-Biography:Born in Venice, he was the older brother of tenor Giuseppe Reschiglian...
(Shchelkalov, Lawicki), Jeanne Maubourg (Innkeeper), Léon Rothier
Léon Rothier
Léon Rothier was a French musician, predominantly an opera singer in the bass range, who reached the peak of his powers in the early 20th century at New York's Metropolitan Opera....
(Pimen), Paul Althouse
Paul Althouse
Paul Shearer Althouse was an American opera singer. He began his career as a lyric tenor with a robust Italianate sound, excelling in roles like Cavaradossi, Pinkerton, and Turiddu. He later branched out into the dramatic tenor repertoire, finding particular success in portraying Wagnerian heroes...
(Pretender), Louise Homer
Louise Homer
Louise Homer was an American operatic contralto who had an active international career in concert halls and opera houses from 1895 until her retirement in 1932. After a brief stint as a vaudeville entertainer in New England, she made her professional opera debut in France in 1898...
(Marina), Andrés de Segurola
Andrés de Segurola
Andrés Perelló de Segurola was a Spanish operatic bass who performed as Andrés de Segurola.-Biography:...
(Varlaam), Pietro Audisio (Misail), Albert Reiss
Albert Reiss
Albert Reiss was a German operatic tenor who had a prolific career in Europe and the United States during the first third of the twentieth century. He spent much of his career performing at the Metropolitan Opera where he sang in more than 1,000 performances, including several premieres, between...
(Yuródivïy), Giulio Rossi (Nikitich), Leopoldo Mariani (Boyar-in-Attendance), and Louis Kreidler (Czernikowski).
1913, London – United Kingdom premiere
The United Kingdom premiere of the 1908 Rimsky-Korsakov edition took place on 24 June 1913 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
in London. Production personnel included Sergey Dyagilev
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev , usually referred to outside of Russia as Serge, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise.-Early life and career:...
(producer) and Aleksandr Sanin (stage director). Emil Cooper
Emil Cooper
Emil Albertovich Cooper, also known as Emil Kuper was a Russian conductor and violinist, of English ancestry....
conducted. The cast included Fyodor Shalyapin (Boris), Mariya Davïdova (Fyodor), Mariya Brian (Kseniya), Yelizaveta Petrenko (Nurse, Innkeeper), Nikolay Andreyev (Shuysky), A. Dogonadze (Shchelkalov), Pavel Andreyev (Pimen), Vasiliy Damayev (Pretender), Yelena Nikolayeva (Marina), Aleksandr Belyanin (Varlaam), Nikolay Bolshakov (Misail), Aleksandr Aleksandrovich (Yuródivïy), and Kapiton Zaporozhets (Nikitich).
1927, Moscow – St. Basil's Scene
The newly published St. Basil's Scene was performed on 18 January 1927 at the Bolshoi Theatre
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
in the 1926 revision by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov was a Russian composer, conductor and teacher.- Biography :...
, commissioned in 1925 to accompany the Rimsky-Korsakov edition. Production personnel included Vladimir Lossky (stage director) and Fyodor Fedorovsky
Fyodor Fedorovsky
Fyodor Fyodorovich Fedorovsky was a Soviet stage designer, People's Artist of the USSR , and active member of the Soviet Academy of Arts .Fyodor Fedorovsky was awarded the Stalin Prize on several occasions , Order of Lenin, two...
(scene designer). Ariy Pazovsky
Ariy Pazovsky
Ariy Moiseyevich Pazovsky was a Russian Jewish conductor.He was a junior conductor at the Bolshoi from 1923-1928, and then director 1943-1948. As a conductor of the Bolshoi Opera, he is credited with having returned parts of Modest Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov which had been censored in...
conducted. The cast included Ivan Kozlovsky
Ivan Kozlovsky
Ivan Semyonovitch Kozlovsky was a Soviet lyric tenor of Ukrainian ethnicity, one of the greatest stars of Soviet opera, as well a producer and director of his own opera company, and longtime teacher at the Moscow Conservatory.-Biography:...
(Yuródivïy), and Leonid Savransky (Boris). The production ran for 144 performances.
1928, Leningrad – World premiere of the 1869 Original Version
The Original Version of 1869 premiered on 16 February 1928 at the State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...
. Production personnel included Sergey Radlov (stage director), and Vladimir Dmitriev (scene designer). Vladimir Dranishnikov conducted. The cast included Mark Reyzen
Mark Reizen
Mark Osipovich Reizen, also Reisen or Reyzen — died November 25, 1992 Moscow, Russia) was a leading Soviet opera singer with a beautiful and expansive bass voice.-Life and career:...
(Boris), Aleksandr Kabanov (Shuysky), Ivan Pleshakov (Pimen), Nikolay Pechkovsky (Pretender), Pavel Zhuravlenko (Varlaam), Yekaterina Sabinina (Innkeeper), and V. Tikhiy (Yuródivïy).
1935, London – First performance of the 1869 Original Version outside Russia
The first performance of the 1869 Original Version abroad took place on 30 September 1935 at the Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...
. The opera was sung in English. Lawrance Collingwood
Lawrance Collingwood
Lawrance Arthur Collingwood CBE was an English conductor, composer and record producer.Lawrance Collingwood was born in London and became a choirboy at Westminster Abbey. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Exeter College, Oxford...
conducted. The cast included Ronald Stear (Boris).
1959, Leningrad – First performance of the Shostakovich orchestration
The premiere of the Dmitriy Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
orchestration of 1940 of Pavel Lamm's vocal score took place on 4 November 1959 at the Kirov Theatre
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...
. Sergey Yeltsin conducted. The cast included Boris Shtokolov
Boris Shtokolov
Boris Shtokolov was a famous Soviet and Russian singer, one of the greatest basses of the 20th century.Boris Shtokolov was born in the city of Kuznetsk, Kemerovo Oblast . In 1949 he entered the Ural State Conservatory in Sverdlovsk but wanted to became a military pilot...
(Boris).
Publication history
| Year | Score | Editor | Publisher | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1874 | Piano vocal score | Modest Mussorgsky | V. Bessel and Co. V. Bessel and Co. V. Bessel and Co. was a musical firm founded in 1869 in St Petersburg by Vasily Vasil’yevich Bessel . His brother N. V. Bessel was a co-owner of the firm.... , Saint Petersburg |
Revised Version |
| 1896 | Full score | Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov | V. Bessel and Co., Saint Petersburg | A drastically edited, re-orchestrated, and cut form of the 1874 vocal score |
| 1908 | Full score | Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov | V. Bessel and Co., Saint Petersburg | A drastically edited and re-orchestrated form of the 1874 vocal score |
| 1928 | Piano vocal score | Pavel Lamm | Muzsektor, Moscow; Oxford University Press Oxford University Press Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as... , London |
A restoration of the composer's scores; a conflation of the Original and Revised Versions, but with notes identifying the sources |
| Full score | Pavel Lamm and Boris Asafyev | Muzsektor, Moscow; Oxford University Press, London | A restoration of the composer's scores; a conflation of the Original and Revised Versions; limited edition of 200 copies | |
| 1963 | Full score | Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century.... |
Muzgiz, Moscow | A new orchestration of Lamm's vocal score; a conflation of the Original and Revised Versions |
| 1975 | Full score | David Lloyd-Jones David Lloyd-Jones David Matthias Lloyd-Jones is a British conductor who has specialised in British and Russian music. He is also an editor and translator, especially of Russian operas.- Biography :... |
Oxford University Press, London | A restoration of the composer's scores; a conflation of the Original and Revised Versions, but with notes identifying the sources |
Versions
David Lloyd-Jones
David Matthias Lloyd-Jones is a British conductor who has specialised in British and Russian music. He is also an editor and translator, especially of Russian operas.- Biography :...
designated them "initial" and "definitive." This article, aiming for utmost objectivity, uses "original" and "revised."
Authorial versions
- Original Version, 1869
- Revised Version, 1872 (piano vocal score published in 1874)
The Original Version of 1869 is rarely heard. It is distinguished by its fidelity to Pushkin's drama and its almost entirely male cast of soloists. It also adheres more closely to the recitative
Recitative
Recitative , also known by its Italian name "recitativo" , is a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech...
opera style (opéra dialogué) of The Stone Guest
The Stone Guest (Dargomyzhsky)
The Stone Guest is an opera in three acts by Alexander Dargomyzhsky. The libretto was taken almost verbatim from Alexander Pushkin's like-named play in blank verse , with slight changes in wording and the interpolation of two songs indicated in the play...
and Marriage, and to the ideals of kuchkist
The Five
The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie , refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Borodin...
realism
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
, which include fidelity to text, formlessness, and emphasis on the values of spoken theatre, especially through naturalistic declamation. The unique features of this version include the original Terem Scene, the dramatic scene at the Cathedral of Vasiliy the Blessed (St. Basil's Scene), and several passages the composer later cut to fit his revised conception. The terse Terem Scene of the 1869 version and the unrelieved tension of the two subsequent and final scenes make this version more dramatically effective to some critics (e.g. Boris Asafyev).
The Revised Version of 1872 represents a retreat from the ideals of Kuchkist realism, which had come to be associated with comedy, toward a more exalted, tragic tone, and a conventionally operatic style—a trend that would be continued in the composer's next opera, Khovanshchina
Khovanshchina
Khovanshchina is an opera in five acts by Modest Mussorgsky. The work was written between 1872 and 1880 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The composer wrote the libretto based on historical sources...
. This version is longer, is richer in musical and theatrical variety, and balances naturalistic declamation with more lyrical vocal lines. The unique features of this version include the revised Terem Scene, which presents the title character in a more tragic and melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
tic light, the conventionally operatic Polish act (Act 3), which concludes in a love scene not found in Pushkin's drama, and the novel final scene of anarchy (the Kromï Scene), also a departure from Pushkin. This version has made a strong comeback in recent years, and has become the dominant version.
The Piano Vocal Score of 1874 was the first published form of the opera, and is essentially the 1872 version with some minor musical variants and small cuts. The 1874 vocal score does not constitute a 'third version', but rather a refinement of the 1872 Revised Version.
The distribution of scenes in the authentic versions is as follows:
| Scene | Short name | Original Version 1869 | Revised Version 1872 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Courtyard of the Novodevichiy Monastery | Novodevichy Scene | Part 1, scene 1 | Prologue, scene 1 |
| A Square in the Moscow Kremlin | Coronation Scene | Part 1, scene 2 | Prologue, scene 2 |
| A Cell in the Chudov Monastery | Cell Scene | Part 2, scene 1 | Act 1, scene 1 |
| An Inn on the Lithuanian Border | Inn Scene | Part 2, scene 2 | Act 1, scene 2 |
| The Tsar's Terem in the Moscow Kremlin | Kremlin Scene | Part 3 | Act 2 |
| Marina's Boudoir in Sandomierz | |
|
Act 3, scene 1 |
| The Garden of Mniszech's Castle in Sandomierz | Fountain Scene | |
Act 3, scene 2 |
| At the Cathedral of Vasiliy the Blessed | St. Basil's Scene | Part 4, scene 1 | |
| The Faceted Palace in the Moscow Kremlin | Death Scene | Part 4, scene 2 | Act 4, scene 1 |
| A Forest Glade near Kromï | Revolution Scene | |
Act 4, scene 2 |
Upon revising the opera, Mussorgsky initially replaced the St. Basil's Scene with the Kromï Scene. However, on the suggestion of Vladimir Nikolsky, he transposed the order of the last two scenes, concluding the opera with the Kromï Scene rather than the Faceted Palace Scene. This gives the overall structure of the 1872 Revised Version the following symmetrical form:
| Act | Scene | Character Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Prologue | Novodevichy | People |
| Cathedral Square | Boris | |
| Act 1 | Cell | Pretender |
| Inn | ||
| Act 2 | Terem | Boris |
| Act 3 | Marina's Boudoir | Pretender |
| Fountain | ||
| Act 4 | Faceted Palace | Boris |
| Near Kromï | People |
Later, Rimsky-Korsakov transposed the last two scenes back again in his revision. Critics have mentioned that in doing so he shifted the focus of the opera from a tragedy of the Russian people to the tragedy of an individual.
Mussorgsky also rewrote the Terem Scene for the 1872 version, modifying the text, adding new songs and plot devices (the parrot and the clock), modifying the psychological treatment of the title character, and virtually recomposing the music of the entire scene.
Other important modifications in the 1872 version are:
- Prologue, scene 1 (Novodevichiy Scene) – The conclusion is cut (in the Synopsis below, the bracketed portion).
- Act 1, scene 1 (Cell Scene) – Pimen's narrative of the scene of Dmitriy's murder is cut. In addition, the composer added some offstage choruses of monks.
- Act 1, scene 2 (Inn Scene) – The 'Song of the Drake' is added (just after the introduction).
- Act 4, scene 1 (Faceted Palace Scene) – 'Shchelkalov's Address' is cut (just after the introduction).
Editions by other hands
- Nikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
, 1896 - Rimsky-Korsakov, 1908
- Emilis Melngailis, 1924
- Dmitri ShostakovichDmitri ShostakovichDmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, 1940 - Karol Rathaus, 1952
The Rimsky-Korsakov Version of 1908 has been the most traditional version over the last century, but has recently been almost entirely eclipsed by Mussorgsky's Revised Version (1872). It resembles the Vocal Score of 1874, but the order of the last two scenes is reversed [see Versions by Other Hands in this article for more details].
Roles
| Role | Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types... |
Premiere cast Mariinsky Theatre Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The... , St Petersburg 27 January 1874 Conductor: Eduard Nápravník |
|---|---|---|
| Boris Godunov Boris Godunov Boris Fyodorovich Godunov was de facto regent of Russia from c. 1585 to 1598 and then the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. The end of his reign saw Russia descend into the Time of Troubles.-Early years:... |
bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... or baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Ivan Melnikov |
| Fyodor (or Feodor), his son | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Aleksandra Krutikova |
| Kseniya (or Xenia), Boris' daughter | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Wilhelmina Raab |
| Kseniya's nurse | contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... |
Olga Shryoder (Schröder) |
| Prince Vasiliy Ivanovich Shuysky Vasili IV of Russia Vasili IV of Russia was Tsar of Russia between 1606 and 1610 after the murder of False Dmitriy I. His reign fell during the Time of Troubles.... |
tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Vasiliy Vasilyev, "Vasilyev II" |
| Andrey Shchelkalov Vasily and Andrey Shchelkalov Vasily Yakovlevich Shchelkalov and Andrey Yakovlevich Shchelkalov Vasily Yakovlevich Shchelkalov (Василий Яковлевич Щелкалов in Russian) (? – 1610 or 1611) and Andrey Yakovlevich Shchelkalov (Андрей Яковлевич Щелкалов) Vasily Yakovlevich Shchelkalov (Василий Яковлевич Щелкалов in Russian) (? –... , Clerk Dyak (clerk) Dyak is a historical Russian bureaucratic occupation whose meaning varied over time and approximately corresponded to the notions of "chief clerk" or "chief of office department".... of the Duma Duma A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the... |
baritone | Vladimir Sobolev |
| Pimen, chronicler-hermit Hermit A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the... |
bass | Vladimir Vasilyev, "Vasilyev I" |
| The Pretender Pretender A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished.... under the name Grigoriy (in training with Pimen) |
tenor | Fyodor Komissarzhevsky Fyodor Petrovich Komissarzhevsky Fyodor Petrovich Komissarzhevsky was a Russian opera singer and teacher of voice and stagecraft. A leading tenor at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, he created many roles in Russian operas, including the Pretender in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and the title role in Tchaikovsky's Vakula... |
| Marina Mniszech Marina Mniszech Marina Mniszech Marina Mniszech Marina Mniszech (Polish: Maryna Mniszchówna or Maryna Mniszech; Russian: Марина Мнишек (Marina Mnishek); also known as "Marinka the witch" in Russian folklore; c... , the daughter of the Sandomierz Sandomierz Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction... Voyevoda* |
mezzo-soprano | Yuliya Platonova |
| Rangoni, a covert Jesuit* | bass | Josef Paleček |
| Varlaam, a vagabond Vagabond (person) A vagabond is a drifter and an itinerant wanderer who roams wherever they please, following the whim of the moment. Vagabonds may lack residence, a job, and even citizenship.... |
bass | Osip Petrov Osip Petrov Osip Afanasievich Petrov was a Russian operatic bass-baritone of great range and renown whose career centred on St Petersburg.He started his career by singing in a church chorus... |
| Misail, a vagabond | tenor | Pavel Dyuzhikov |
| The Innkeeper | mezzo-soprano | Antonina Abarinova |
| The yuródivïy | tenor | Pavel Bulakhov |
| Nikitich, a police officer | bass | Mikhail Sariotti |
| Mityukha, a peasant | bass | Lyadov |
| The Boyar-in-Attendance | tenor | Sobolev |
| The Boyar Boyar A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century.... Khrushchov* |
tenor | Matveyev |
| Lawicki (or Lavitsky), Jesuit* | bass | Vladimir Vasilyev, "Vasilyev I" |
| Czernikowski (or Chernikovsky), Jesuit* | bass | Sobolev |
| Chorus, silent roles: Boyars, the Boyars' children, streltsï Streltsy Streltsy were the units of Russian guardsmen in the 16th - early 18th centuries, armed with firearms. They are also collectively known as Marksman Troops .- Origins and organization :... , bodyguards, policemen, Polish nobles, Sandomierz maidens, wandering minstrels, people of Moscow |
||
Note: Roles designated with an asterisk do not appear in the 1869 Original Version. "Yuródivïy" is often translated as "Simpleton" or "Idiot". However, "Holy Fool" is a more accurate English equivalent. In other roles lists created by Mussorgsky, Pimen is designated a monk (инок), Grigoriy a novice (послушник), Rangoni a Cardinal (кардинал), Varlaam and Misail vagrant-monks (бродяги-чернецы), the Innkeeper a hostess (хозяйка), and Khrushchov a Voyevoda (воевода). Pimen, Grigoriy, Varlaam, and Misail were likely given non-clerical designations to satisfy the censor.
Instrumentation
Mussorgsky orchestration- Strings: violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s I & II, violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s, celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
s, double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
es - Woodwinds: 3 fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s (3rd doubling piccoloPiccoloThe piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
), 2 oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s (2nd doubling english horn), 2 clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s, 2 bassoonBassoonThe bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s - Brass: 4 hornsHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
, 2 trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, 3 tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, 1 tubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the... - Percussion: timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, bass drumBass drumBass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
, snare drumSnare drumThe snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, cymbalCymbalCymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s - Other: pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings... - On/Offstage instruments: 1 trumpet, bellsBell (instrument)A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
, tam-tam
Rimsky-Korsakov orchestration
- Strings: violins I & II, violas, cellos, double basses
- Woodwinds: 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (2nd doubling english horn), 3 clarinets (3rd doubling bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
), 2 bassoons - Brass: 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba
- Percussion: timpani, bass drum, snare drum, tambourine, cymbals
- Other: piano, harp
- On/Offstage instruments: 1 trumpet, bells, tam-tam
Shostakovich orchestration
- Strings: violins I & II, violas, cellos, double basses
- Woodwinds: 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, english horn, 3 clarinets (3rd doubling e-flat clarinetE-flat clarinetThe E-flat clarinet is a member of the clarinet family. It is usually classed as a soprano clarinet, although some authors describe it as a "sopranino" or even "piccolo" clarinet. Smaller in size and higher in pitch than the more common B clarinet, it is a transposing instrument in E, sounding a...
), bass clarinet, 3 bassoons (3rd doubling contrabassoonContrabassoonThe contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
) - Brass: 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba
- Percussion: timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, tam-tam, triangleTriangle (instrument)The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
, bells, glockenspielGlockenspielA glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
, xylophoneXylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets... - Other: piano, harp, celestaCelestaThe celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
- On/Offstage instruments: 4 trumpets, 2 cornetCornetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
s, 2 horns, 2 baritone hornBaritone hornThe baritone horn is a member of the brass instrument family. The baritone horn has a predominantly cylindrical bore as do the trumpet and trombone. A baritone horn uses a large mouthpiece much like those of a trombone or euphonium, although it is a bit smaller. Some baritone mouthpieces will sink...
s, 2 euphoniumEuphoniumThe euphonium is a conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument. It derives its name from the Greek word euphonos, meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced"...
s, 2 tubas, balalaikaBalalaikaThe balalaika is a stringed musical instrument popular in Russia, with a characteristic triangular body and three strings.The balalaika family of instruments includes instruments of various sizes, from the highest-pitched to the lowest, the prima balalaika, secunda balalaika, alto balalaika, bass...
and domraDomraThe domra is a long-necked Russian string instrument of the lute family with a round body and three or four metal strings.-History:In 1896, a student of Vasily Vasilievich Andreyev found a broken instrument in a stable in rural Russia...
ad libitum
Historical basis of the plot
An understanding of the drama of Boris Godunov may be facilitated by a basic knowledge of the historical events surrounding the Time of TroublesTime of Troubles
The Time of Troubles was a period of Russian history comprising the years of interregnum between the death of the last Russian Tsar of the Rurik Dynasty, Feodor Ivanovich, in 1598, and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613. In 1601-1603, Russia suffered a famine that killed one-third...
, the interregnum
Interregnum
An interregnum is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order...
of relative anarchy following the end of the Ryurik Dynasty
Rurik Dynasty
The Rurik dynasty or Rurikids was a dynasty founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who established himself in Novgorod around the year 862 AD...
(1598) and preceding the Romanov Dynasty
Romanov
The House of Romanov was the second and last imperial dynasty to rule over Russia, reigning from 1613 until the February Revolution abolished the crown in 1917...
(1613). Key events are as follows:
- 1584 – Ivan IV "The Terrible", the first Grand PrinceGrand PrinceThe title grand prince or great prince ranked in honour below emperor and tsar and above a sovereign prince .Grand duke is the usual and established, though not literal, translation of these terms in English and Romance languages, which do not normally use separate words for a "prince" who reigns...
of Muscovy to officially adopt the title TsarTsarTsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
(Caesar), dies. Ivan’s successor is his feeble son Fyodor, now Fyodor I, who cares only for spiritual matters and leaves the affairs of state to his capable brother-in-law, boyarBoyarA boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
Boris Godunov, who soon becomes the de facto regentRegentA regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
. - 1591 – Ivan’s other son, the eight-year-old Tsarevich DmitriyTsarevich DimitriTsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich, also known as Tsarevich Demetrius, Tsarevich Dimitri, Dmitry of Uglich, and Dmitry of Moscow, was a Russian tsarevich, son of Ivan the Terrible and Maria Nagaya.-Life:...
, dies under mysterious circumstances in UglichUglichUglich is a historic town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, which stands on the Volga River. Population: A local tradition dates the town's origins to 937. It was first documented in 1148 as Ugliche Pole...
. An investigation, ordered by Godunov and carried out by Prince Vasiliy Shuysky, determines that the Tsarevich, while playing with a knife, had an epileptic seizure, fell, and died from a self-inflicted wound to the throat. Dmitriy's mother, Maria NagayaMaria NagayaMaria Feodorovna Nagaya was a Russian tsarina and eighth wife of Ivan the Terrible.Maria married Ivan IV in 1581 and a year later gave birth to their son Dmitry. After the Tsar's death in 1584, Nagaya, her son and her brothers were sent into exile to Uglich by Boris Godunov, where she lived...
, exiled with him to Uglich by Godunov, claims he was assassinated. Rumors linking Boris to the crime are circulated by his enemies. - 1598 – Tsar Fyodor I dies. He is the last in a line of representatives of the Ryurik DynastyRurik DynastyThe Rurik dynasty or Rurikids was a dynasty founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who established himself in Novgorod around the year 862 AD...
who have ruled Russia for 7 centuries. Patriarch Job of Moscow nominates Boris to succeed Fyodor I as Tsar, despite the rumors that Boris ordered the murder of Dmitriy. Boris agrees to accept the throne only if elected by the Zemsky SoborZemsky SoborThe zemsky sobor was the first Russian parliament of the feudal Estates type, in the 16th and 17th centuries. The term roughly means assembly of the land. It could be summoned either by tsar, or patriarch, or the Boyar Duma...
. This the assembly does unanimously, and Boris is crowned the same year. - 1601 – The Russian famine of 1601–1603Russian famine of 1601–1603The Russian famine of 1601–1603 was Russia's worst famine in terms of proportional effect on the population, killing perhaps two million people, a third of Russians, during the Time of Troubles, when the country was unsettled politically and later invaded by the Polish Commonwealth...
undermines Boris Godunov's popularity and the stability of his administration.
- 1604 – A pretenderPretenderA pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
to the throne appears in PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, claiming to be Tsarevich Dmitriy, but believed to be in reality one Grigoriy Otrepyev. He gains the support of the SzlachtaSzlachtaThe szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
, magnates, and, upon conversion to Roman Catholicism, the Apostolic Nuncio Claudio Rangoni. Obtaining a force of soldiers, he marches on MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. The False Dmitriy's retinue includes the Jesuits Lawicki and Czernikowski, and the monks Varlaam and Misail of the Chudov Monastery. Crossing into Russia, Dmitriy’s invasion force is joined by disaffected Cossacks. However, after a few victories, the campaign falters. Polish mercenaries mutiny and desert. - 1605 – Boris dies of unknown causes. He is succeeded by his son Fyodor, now Fyodor II. The death of Boris gives new life to the campaign of the False Dmitriy. Boyars who have gone over to the Pretender murder Fyodor II and his mother. The False Dmitriy enters Moscow and is soon crowned. Prince Shuysky begins plotting against him.
- 1606 – The Russian boyars oppose Dmitriy's Polish and Catholic alliances. He is murdered shortly after wedding Marina MniszechMarina MniszechMarina Mniszech Marina Mniszech Marina Mniszech (Polish: Maryna Mniszchówna or Maryna Mniszech; Russian: Марина Мнишек (Marina Mnishek); also known as "Marinka the witch" in Russian folklore; c...
, and is succeeded by Vasiliy Shuysky, now Vasiliy IV. - 1610 – Vasiliy IV is deposedDeposition (politics)Deposition by political means concerns the removal of a politician or monarch. It may be done by coup, impeachment, invasion or forced abdication...
, and dies two years later in a Polish prison. Another pretender claiming to be Dmitriy Ivanovich, False Dmitriy IIFalse Dmitry IIFalse Dmitry II , also called the rebel of Tushino, was the second of three pretenders to the Russian throne who claimed to be Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich of Russia, the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible...
, is murdered. - 1611 – Yet a third pretender, False Dmitriy IIIFalse Dmitry IIIFalse Dmitry III, also called Pseudo-Demetrius III , was the last and most enigmatic of three pretenders to the Russian throne who claimed to be the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich Dmitry....
, appears. He is captured and executed in 1612. - 1613 – The Time of Troubles comes to a close with the accession of Mikhail Romanov, son of Fyodor RomanovPatriarch Filaret (Feodor Romanov)Feodor Nikitich Romanov was a Russian boyar who after temporary disgrace rose to become patriarch of Moscow as Filaret , and became de-facto ruler of Russia during the reign of his son, Mikhail Feodorovich.- Life :...
, who had been persecuted under Boris Godunov's reign.
Note: The culpability of Boris in the matter of Dmitriy's death can neither be proved nor disproved. Karamzin accepted his responsibility for the crime as fact, and Pushkin and Mussorgsky after him assumed his guilt to be true, at least for the purpose of creating a tragedy in the mould of Shakespeare. Modern historians, however, tend to acquit Boris of the crime.
Synopsis
Note: Shishkov and Bocharev designed the sets (samples below), some of which were used in the first complete performance in 1874.= Arias and numbers
[ ] = Passages cut from or added to the 1872 Revised Version [see Versions in this article for details]
Setting
- Time: The years 1598 to 1605
- Place: MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
; the LithuaniaLithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n frontier; a castle in SandomierzSandomierzSandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
; KromïKromyKromy is a urban locality Kromy is a urban locality Kromy is a urban locality (an urban-type settlement and the administrative center of Kromskoy District of Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Kroma River (a tributary of the Oka) southwest of Oryol. Population:...
Part 1 / Prologue
Novodevichy Convent
Novodevichy Convent, also known as Bogoroditse-Smolensky Monastery is probably the best-known cloister of Moscow. Its name, sometimes translated as the New Maidens' Monastery, was devised to differ from an ancient maidens' convent within the Moscow Kremlin. Unlike other Moscow cloisters, it has...
near Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
(1598)
There is a brief introduction foreshadowing the 'Dmitriy Motif'. The curtain opens on a crowd in the courtyard of the monastery, where the weary regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov was de facto regent of Russia from c. 1585 to 1598 and then the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. The end of his reign saw Russia descend into the Time of Troubles.-Early years:...
has temporarily retired. Nikitich the police officer orders the assembled people to kneel. He goads them to clamor for Boris to accept the throne. They sing a chorus of supplication ("To whom dost thou abandon us, our father?"). The people are bewildered about their purpose and soon fall to bickering with each other, resuming their entreaties only when the policeman threatens them with his club. Their chorus reaches a feverish climax. Andrey Shchelkalov
Vasily and Andrey Shchelkalov
Vasily Yakovlevich Shchelkalov and Andrey Yakovlevich Shchelkalov Vasily Yakovlevich Shchelkalov (Василий Яковлевич Щелкалов in Russian) (? – 1610 or 1611) and Andrey Yakovlevich Shchelkalov (Андрей Яковлевич Щелкалов) Vasily Yakovlevich Shchelkalov (Василий Яковлевич Щелкалов in Russian) (? –...
, the Secretary of the Duma
Duma
A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...
, appears from inside the convent, informs the people that Boris still refuses the throne of Russia ("Orthodox folk! The boyar is implacable!"), and requests that they pray that he will relent. An approaching procession of pilgrims sings a hymn ("Glory to Thee, Creator on high"), exhorting the people to crush the spirit of anarchy in the land, take up holy icons, and go to meet the Tsar. They disappear into the monastery.
- [Original 1869 Version only: The people discuss the statements of the pilgrims. Many remain bewildered about the identity of this Tsar. The police officer interrupts their discussion, ordering them to appear the next day at the Moscow KremlinMoscow KremlinThe Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...
. The people move on, stoically exclaiming "if we are to wail, we might as well wail at the Kremlin".]
Cathedral Square in Moscow
Cathedral Square or Sobornaya Square is the central square of the Moscow Kremlin where all of its streets used to converge in the 15th century....
in the Moscow Kremlin
Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...
(1598).
The orchestral introduction is based on bell motifs. From the porch of the Cathedral of the Dormition
Cathedral of the Dormition
The Cathedral of the Dormition is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos. It is located on the north side of Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia, where a narrow alley separates the north from the Patriarch's Palace with the Twelve Apostles Church....
, Prince Shuysky exhorts the people to glorify Tsar Boris. As the people sing a great chorus of praise ("Like the beautiful sun in the sky, glory"), a solemn procession of boyar
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
s exits the cathedral. The people kneel. Boris appears on the porch of the cathedral. The shouts of "Glory!" reach a crescendo and subside. Boris delivers a brief monologue
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
("My soul grieves") betraying a feeling of ominous foreboding. He prays for God's blessing, and hopes to be a good and just ruler. He invites the people to a great feast, and then proceeds to the Cathedral of the Archangel
Cathedral of the Archangel
The Cathedral of the Archangel is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. It is located in Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia between the Great Kremlin Palace and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. It was the main necropolis for members of the Tsars of Russia until...
to kneel at the tombs of Russia's past rulers. The people wish Boris a long life ("Glory! Glory! Glory!"). A crowd breaks toward the cathedral. The police officers struggle to maintain order. The people resume their shouts of "Glory!"
Part 2 / Act 1
Scene 1: Night. A Cell in the Chudov MonasteryChudov Monastery
The Chudov Monastery was founded in the Moscow Kremlin in 1358 by Metropolitan Alexius of Moscow. The monastery was dedicated to the miracle of the Archangel Michael at Chonae...
[within the Moscow Kremlin] (1603)
Pimen, a venerable monk, writes a chronicle ("Yet one last tale") of Russian history. The young novice Grigoriy awakes from a horrible (and prophetic) dream, which he relates to Pimen, in which he climbed a high tower, was mocked by the people of Moscow, and fell. Pimen advises him to fast and pray. Grigoriy regrets that he retired so soon from worldly affairs to become a monk. He envies Pimen's early life of adventure. Pimen speaks approvingly of Ivan the Terrible and his son Fyodor, who both exhibited great spiritual devotion, and draws a contrast with Boris, a regicide
Regicide
The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a monarch. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after a trial...
.
- [Original 1869 Version only: At Grigoriy's request, Pimen tells the vivid details of the scene of the murder of Dmitry Ivanovich, which he witnessed in UglichUglichUglich is a historic town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, which stands on the Volga River. Population: A local tradition dates the town's origins to 937. It was first documented in 1148 as Ugliche Pole...
.]
Upon discovering the similarity in age between himself and the murdered Tsarevich, Grigoriy conceives the idea of posing as the Pretender
Pretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
. As Pimen departs for Matins
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
, Grigoriy declares that Boris shall escape neither the judgment of the people, nor that of God.
There is a brief orchestral introduction based on three prominent themes from this scene.
-
- [Revised 1872 Version only: The Hostess enters and sings the 'Song of the Drake' ("I have caught a gray drake"). It is interrupted towards the end by approaching voices.]
The vagrants Varlaam and Misail, who are dressed as monks and are begging for alms, and their companion Grigoriy, who is in secular garb, arrive and enter. After exchanging greetings, Varlaam requests some wine. When the Hostess returns with a bottle, he drinks and launches into a ferocious song ("So it was in the city of Kazan") of Ivan the Terrible's siege of Kazan
Siege of Kazan (1552)
The siege of Kazan in 1552 was the final battle of Russo-Kazan Wars. It led to the fall of Kazan Khanate. However, it was not the last battle on the khanate's territory. After the fall of Kazan, rebel governments formed in Çalım and Mişätamaq, and a new khan was invited from the Nogais...
. The two monks quickly become tipsy, and soon begin to doze. Grigoriy quietly asks the Hostess for directions to the Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n border. Policemen appear in search of a fugitive heretic monk (Grigoriy) who has run off from the Chudov Monastery
Chudov Monastery
The Chudov Monastery was founded in the Moscow Kremlin in 1358 by Metropolitan Alexius of Moscow. The monastery was dedicated to the miracle of the Archangel Michael at Chonae...
declaring that he will become Tsar in Moscow. Noticing Varlaam's suspicious appearance and behavior, the lead policeman thinks he has found his man. He cannot read the ukaz
Ukase
A ukase , in Imperial Russia, was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader that had the force of law...
(edict) he is carrying, however, so Grigoriy volunteers to read it. He does so, but, eyeing Varlaam carefully, he substitutes Varlaam's description for his own. The policemen quickly seize Varlaam, who protests his innocence and asks to read the ukaz. He haltingly reads the description of the suspect, which of course matches Grigoriy. Grigoriy brandishes a dagger, and leaps out of the window. The men set off in pursuit.
Part 3 / Act 2
The Interior of the Tsar's TeremTerem Palace
Terem Palace or Teremnoy Palace is a historical building in the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, which used to be the main residence of the Russian tsars in the 17th century. Its name is derived from the Greek word τερεμνον...
in the Moscow Kremlin
Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...
(1605)
Kseniya (or Xenia), clutching a portrait of "Prince Ivan"
John, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein
Johan of Schleswig-Holstein was the youngest son of Frederick II of Denmark and Norway and Sophia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin...
, her betrothed who has died, sings a brief mournful aria ("Where are you, my bridegroom?"). Fyodor studies a great map of the Tsardom of Russia
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
.
- [Revised 1872 Version only: Fyodor is distracted when the chiming clock starts working.]
Kseniya's nurse assures her that she will soon forget about "Prince Ivan".
- [1872: The nurse and Fyodor attempt to cheer Kseniya up with some songs ("A gnat was chopping wood" and "A song of this and that").]
Boris abruptly enters, briefly consoles Kseniya, and then sends her and her nurse to their own quarters. Fyodor shows Boris the map of Russia. After encouraging his son to resume his studies, Boris delivers a long and fine soliloquy
Soliloquy
A soliloquy is a device often used in drama whereby a character relates his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters, and is delivered often when they are alone or think they are alone. Soliloquy is distinct from monologue and...
("I have attained supreme power").
- [1872: At the end of this ariosoAriosoIn classical music, arioso is a style of solo opera singing between recitative and aria. Literally, arioso means airy. The term arose in the 16th century along with the aforementioned styles and monody. It is commonly confused with recitativo accompagnato....
he reveals that he has been disturbed by a vision of a bloody child begging for mercy. A commotion breaks out in his children's quarters. Boris sends Fyodor to investigate.]
The boyar-in-attendance brings word of the arrival of Prince Shuysky, and reports a denunciation against him for his intrigues.
- [1872: Fyodor returns to relate a whimsical tale ("Our little parrot was sitting") involving a pet parrot. Boris takes comfort in his son's imagination and advises Fyodor, when he becomes Tsar, to beware of evil and cunning advisors such as Shuysky.]
Prince Shuysky now enters. Boris insults him, accusing him of conspiring with Pushkin, an ancestor of the poet. Boris threatens Shuysky with a gruesome execution. However, the prince brings grave tidings. A Pretender
Pretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
has appeared in Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
. Boris angrily demands to know his identity. Shuysky fears the Pretender might attract a following bearing the name of Dmitriy
Tsarevich Dimitri
Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich, also known as Tsarevich Demetrius, Tsarevich Dimitri, Dmitry of Uglich, and Dmitry of Moscow, was a Russian tsarevich, son of Ivan the Terrible and Maria Nagaya.-Life:...
. Shaken by this revelation, Boris dismisses Fyodor. He orders Shuysky to seal the border with Lithuania, and, clearly on the edge of madness, asks Shuysky whether he has ever heard of dead children rising from their graves to interrogate Tsars. Boris seeks assurance that the dead child the prince had seen in Uglich
Uglich
Uglich is a historic town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, which stands on the Volga River. Population: A local tradition dates the town's origins to 937. It was first documented in 1148 as Ugliche Pole...
was really Dmitriy. Shuysky confirms this in a brief and beautiful aria ("In Uglich, in the cathedral"). But he gives hints that a miracle (incorruptibility
Incorruptibility
Incorruptibility is a Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief that supernatural intervention allows some human bodies to avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a sign of their holiness...
) has occurred. Boris begins choking with guilt and remorse, and gives a sign for Shuysky to depart.
- [1872: The chiming clock again begins working.]
Boris hallucinates (Hallucination or 'Clock' Scene). The spectre of the dead Dmitriy reaches out to him. Addressing the apparition, he denies his responsibility for the crime: "Begone, begone child! I am not thy murderer... the will of the people!" He collapses, praying that God will have mercy on his guilty soul.
Act 3 (Polish act)
Scene 1: The Boudoir of Marina Mniszech in SandomierzSandomierz
Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
[Poland] (1604)
Maidens sing a delicate, sentimental song ("On the blue Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
") to entertain Marina as her chambermaid dresses her hair. Marina declares her preference for heroic songs of chivalry. She dismisses everyone. Alone, she sings of her boredom ("How tediously and sluggishly"), of Dmitriy, and of her thirst for adventure, power, and glory. The Jesuit Rangoni enters, bemoans the wretched state of the church, attempts to obtain Marina's promise that when she becomes Tsaritsa
Tsaritsa
Tsaritsa , formerly spelled czaritsa , is the title of a female autocratic ruler of Bulgaria or Russia, or the title of a tsar's wife....
she will convert the heretics
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
of Moscow (Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
) to the true faith (Roman Catholicism), and encourages her to bewitch the Pretender. When Marina wonders why she should do this, Rangoni angrily insists that she stop short of nothing, including sacrificing her honor, to obey the dictates of the church. Marina expresses contempt of his hypocritical insinuations and demands he leave. As Rangoni ominously tells her she is in the thrall of infernal forces, Marina collapses in dread. Rangoni demands her obedience.
Woodwind and harp accompany a pensive version of the 'Dmitriy Motif'. The Pretender dreams of an assignation with Marina in the garden of her father's castle. However, to his annoyance, Rangoni finds him. He brings news that Marina longs for him and wishes to speak with him. The Pretender resolves to throw himself at Marina's feet, begging her to be his wife and Tsaritsa. He entreats Rangoni to lead him to Marina. Rangoni, however, first begs the Pretender to consider him a father, allowing him to follow his every step and thought. Despite his mistrust of Rangoni, the Pretender agrees not to part from him if he will only let him see Marina. Rangoni convinces the Pretender to hide as the Polish nobles emerge from the castle dancing a polonaise
Polonaise
The polonaise is a slow dance of Polish origin, in 3/4 time. Its name is French for "Polish."The polonaise had a rhythm quite close to that of the Swedish semiquaver or sixteenth-note polska, and the two dances have a common origin....
(Polonaise). Marina flirts, dancing with an older man. The Poles sing of taking the Muscovite throne, defeating the army of Boris, and capturing him. They return to the castle. The Pretender comes out of hiding, cursing Rangoni. He resolves to abandon wooing Marina and begin his march on Moscow. But then Marina appears and calls to him. He is lovesick. She, however, only wants to know when he will be Tsar, and declares she can only be seduced by a throne and a crown. The Pretender kneels at her feet. She rejects his advances, and, attempting to spur him to action, dismisses him, calling him a lackey. Having reached his limit, he tells her he will depart the next day to lead his army to Moscow and to his father's throne. Furthermore, as Tsar he will take pleasure in watching her come crawling back looking for her own lost throne, and will command everyone to laugh at her. She quickly reverses course, tells him she adores him, and they sing a duet ("O Tsarevich, I implore you"). Rangoni observes the amorous couple from afar, and, joining them in a brief trio, cynically rejoices in his victory.
Part 4 / Act 4
Scene 1 [1869 Version only]: The Square before St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow (1605)A crowd mills about before the Cathedral of the Intercession
Saint Basil's Cathedral
The Cathedral of the Protection of Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat , popularly known as Saint Basil's Cathedral , is a Russian Orthodox church erected on the Red Square in Moscow in 1555–61. Built on the order of Ivan the Terrible to commemorate the capture of Kazan and Astrakhan, it marks the...
(the Temple of Vasiliy the Blessed
Basil Fool for Christ
Basil the Blessed is a Russian Orthodox saint of the type known as yurodivy or "holy fool for Christ"....
) in Red Square
Red Square
Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...
. Many are beggars, and policemen occasionally appear. A group of men enters, discussing the anathema
Anathema
Anathema originally meant something lifted up as an offering to the gods; it later evolved to mean:...
the deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
had declared on Grishka (Grigoriy) Otrepyev in the mass. They identify Grishka as the Tsarevich. With growing excitement they sing of the advance of his forces to Kromï, of his intent to retake his father's throne, and of the defeat he will deal to the Godunovs. A yuródivïy enters, pursued by urchins. He sings a nonsensical song ("The moon is flying, the kitten is crying"). The urchins greet him and rap on his metal hat. The yuródivïy has a kopek
Russian ruble
The ruble or rouble is the currency of the Russian Federation and the two partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Formerly, the ruble was also the currency of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union prior to their breakups. Belarus and Transnistria also use currencies with...
, which the urchins promptly steal. He whines pathetically. Boris and his retinue exit the Cathedral. The boyars distribute alms
Alms
Alms or almsgiving is a religious rite which, in general, involves giving materially to another as an act of religious virtue.It exists in a number of religions. In Philippine Regions, alms are given as charity to benefit the poor. In Buddhism, alms are given by lay people to monks and nuns to...
. In a powerful chorus ("Benefactor father (Give us bread)"), the hungry people beg for bread. As the chorus subsides, the yuródivïy's cries are heard. Boris asks why he cries. The yuródivïy reports the theft of his kopek and asks Boris to order the boys' slaughter, just as he did in the case of the Tsarevich. Shuysky wants the yuródivïy seized, but Boris instead asks for the holy man's prayers. As Boris exits, the yurodivïy declares that the Mother of God
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
will not allow him to pray for Tsar Herod
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
(see Massacre of the Innocents
Massacre of the Innocents
The Massacre of the Innocents is an episode of infanticide by the King of Judea, Herod the Great. According to the Gospel of Matthew Herod orders the execution of all young male children in the village of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews whose birth...
). The yuródivïy then sings his lament ("Flow, flow, bitter tears!") about the fate of Russia.
[1872 version]: The Faceted Palace
Palace of Facets
The Palace of the Facets is a building in the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, which contains what used to be the main banquet reception hall of the Muscovite Tsars. It is the oldest preserved secular building in Moscow. Located on Kremlin Cathedral Square, between the Cathedral of the Annunciation and the...
in the Moscow Kremlin
Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...
(1605)
A session of the Duma
Duma
A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...
is in progress.
- [Original 1869 Version only: The assembled boyars listen as ShchelkalovVasily and Andrey ShchelkalovVasily Yakovlevich Shchelkalov and Andrey Yakovlevich Shchelkalov Vasily Yakovlevich Shchelkalov (Василий Яковлевич Щелкалов in Russian) (? – 1610 or 1611) and Andrey Yakovlevich Shchelkalov (Андрей Яковлевич Щелкалов) Vasily Yakovlevich Shchelkalov (Василий Яковлевич Щелкалов in Russian) (? –...
, reading the Tsar's ukazUkaseA ukase , in Imperial Russia, was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader that had the force of law...
(edict), informs them of the PretenderPretenderA pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
's claim to the throne of Russia, and requests they pass judgment on him.]
After some arguments, the boyars agree ("Well, let's put it to a vote, boyars"), in a powerful chorus, that the Pretender and his sympathizers should be executed. Shuysky, whom they distrust, arrives with an interesting story. Upon leaving the Tsar's presence, he observed Boris attempting to drive away the ghost of the dead Tsarevich, exclaiming: "Begone, begone child!" The boyars accuse Shuysky of spreading lies. However, a dishevelled Boris now enters, echoing Shuysky: "Begone child!" The boyars are horrified. After Boris comes to his senses, Shuysky informs him that a humble old man craves an audience. Pimen enters and tells the story ("One day, at the evening hour") of a blind man who heard the voice of the Tsarevich in a dream. Dmitry instructed him to go to Uglich
Uglich
Uglich is a historic town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, which stands on the Volga River. Population: A local tradition dates the town's origins to 937. It was first documented in 1148 as Ugliche Pole...
and pray at his grave, for he has become a miracle worker in heaven. The man did as instructed and regained his sight. This story is the final blow for Boris. He calls for his son, declares he is dying ("Farewell, my son, I am dying"), gives Fyodor final counsel, and prays for God's blessing on his children. In a very dramatic scene ("The bell! The funeral bell!"), he dies.
Scene 2 [1872 Version only]: A Forest Glade near Kromy (1605)
Tempestuous music accompanies the entry of a crowd of vagabonds who have captured the boyar Khrushchov. The crowd taunts him, then bows in mock homage ("Not a falcon flying in the heavens"). The yuródivïy enters, pursued by urchins. He sings a nonsensical song ("The moon is flying, the kitten is crying"). The urchins greet him and rap on his metal hat. The yuródivïy has a kopek, which the urchins promptly steal. He whines pathetically. Varlaam and Misail are heard in the distance singing of the crimes of Boris and his henchmen ("The sun and moon have gone dark"). They enter. The crowd gets worked up to a frenzy ("Our bold daring has broken free, gone on a rampage") denouncing Boris. Two Jesuits are heard in the distance chanting in Latin ("Domine, Domine, salvum fac"), praying that God will save Dmitriy. They enter. At the instigation of Varlaam and Misail, the vagabonds prepare to hang the Jesuits, who appeal to the Holy Virgin
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
for aid. Processional music heralds the arrival of Dmitriy and his forces. Varlaam and Misail glorify him ("Glory to thee, Tsarevich!") along with the crowd. The Pretender calls those persecuted by Godunov to his side. He frees Khrushchov, and calls on all to march on Moscow. All exeunt except the yuródivïy, who sings a plaintive song ("Flow, flow, bitter tears!") of the arrival of the enemy and of woe to Russia.
Principal arias and numbers
- Chorus: "To whom dost thou abandon us, our father!" «На кого ты нас покидаешь, отец наш!» (People)
- Aria: "Orthodox folk! The boyar is implacable!" «Православные! Неумолим боярин!» (Shchelkalov)
- Chorus: "Like the beautiful sun in the sky, glory" «Уж как на небе солнцу красному слава» (People)
- Monologue: "My soul grieves" «Скорбит душа» (Boris)
- Chorus: "Glory! Glory! Glory!" «Слава! Слава! Слава!» (People)
- Aria: "Yet one last tale" «Еще одно, последнее сказанье» (Pimen)
- Song: "So it was in the city of Kazan" «Как во городе было во Казани» (Varlaam)
- Monologue: "I have attained supreme power" «Достиг я высшей власти» (Boris)
- Scene: "Hallucination" or "Clock Scene" «Сцена с курантами» (Boris)
- Aria: "How tediously and sluggishly" «Как томительно и вяло» (Marina)
- Dance: "Polonaise" «Полонез» (Marina, Polish nobles)
- Duet: "O Tsarevich, I implore you" «О царевич, умоляю» (Marina, Dmitry)
- Chorus: "Well, let's put it to a vote, boyars" «Что ж? Пойдём на голоса, бояре» (Boyars)
- Aria: "One day, at the evening hour" «Однажды, в вечерний час» (Pimen)
- Aria: "Farewell, my son, I am dying" «Прощай, мой сын, умираю...» (Boris)
- Scene: "The bell! The funeral bell!" «Звон! Погребальный звон!» (Boris, Fyodor, Chorus)
- Song: "Flow, flow, bitter tears!" «Лейтесь, лейтесь, слёзы горькие!» (Yurodivïy)
Critical reception
Russian opera of the early 1870s was dominated by Western European works—mainly Italian. The domestic product was regarded with skepticism and sometimes hostility. The playwright Tikhonov wrote in 1898:As the most daring and innovative member of the Mighty Handful, Mussorgsky frequently became the target of conservative critics and rival composers, and was often derided for his supposedly clumsy and crude musical idiom. After the premiere of Boris Godunov, influential critic Herman Laroche wrote:
Reviews of the premiere performance of Boris Godunov were for the most part hostile. Some critics dismissed the work as "chaotic" and "a cacophony". Even his friends Mily Balakirev
Mily Balakirev
Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev ,Russia was still using old style dates in the 19th century, and information sources used in the article sometimes report dates as old style rather than new style. Dates in the article are taken verbatim from the source and therefore are in the same style as the source...
and César Cui
César Cui
César Antonovich Cui was a Russian of French and Lithuanian descent. His profession was as an army officer and a teacher of fortifications; his avocational life has particular significance in the history of music, in that he was a composer and music critic; in this sideline he is known as a...
, leading members of the Mighty Handful, minimized his accomplishment. Unable to overlook Mussorgsky's "trespasses against the conventional musical grammar of the time", they failed to recognize the giant step forward in musical and dramatic expression that Boris Godunov represented. Cui betrayed Mussorgsky in a notoriously scathing review of the premiere performance:
Although he found much to admire, particularly the Inn Scene and the Song of the Parrot, he reproved the composer for a poorly constructed libretto, finding the opera to exhibit a lack of cohesion between scenes. He claimed that Mussorgsky was so deficient in the ability to write instrumental music that he dispensed with composing a prelude, and that he had "borrowed the cheap method of characterization by leitmotives from Wagner."
Other composers were even more censorious. Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
wrote in a letter to his brother Modest
Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian dramatist, opera librettist and translator.-Early life:Modest Ilyich was born in Alapayevsk, the younger brother of the future composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He graduated from the School of Jurisprudence with a degree in law...
:
Of the critics who evaluated the new opera, only the 19-year-old critic Vladimir Baskin defended Mussorgsky's skill as a composer. Writing under the pen name "Foma Pizzicato", Baskin wrote,
Although Boris Godunov is usually praised for its originality, dramatic choruses, sharply delineated characters, and for the powerful psychological portrayal of Tsar Boris, it has received an inordinate amount of criticism for technical shortcomings: weak or faulty harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
, part-writing, and orchestration
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
said:
The perception that Boris needed correction due to Mussorgsky's poverty of technique prompted Rimsky-Korsakov to revise it after his death. His edition supplanted the composer's Revised Version of 1872 in Russia, and launched the work abroad, remaining the preferred edition for some 75 years (see Versions by Other Hands in this article for more details). For decades, critics and scholars pressing for the performance of Mussorgsky's own versions fought an often losing battle against the conservatism of conductors and singers, who, raised on the plush Rimsky-Korsakov edition, found it impossible to adapt to Mussorgsky's comparatively unrefined and bleak original scores.
Recently, however, a new appreciation for the rugged individuality of Mussorgsky's style has resulted in increasing performances and recording of his original versions. Musicologist Gerald Abraham
Gerald Abraham
Gerald Ernest Heal Abraham, CBE, FBA was an English musicologist; he was President of the Royal Musical Association, 1970-74.- Career :* Assistant Editor, Radio Times, 1935–39* Deputy Editor, The Listener, 1939–42...
wrote:
For many, Boris Godunov is the greatest of all Russian operas because of its originality, drama, and characterization, regardless of any cosmetic imperfections it may possess.
Analysis
Models and influences- Mikhail GlinkaMikhail GlinkaMikhail Ivanovich Glinka , was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music...
: A Life for the TsarA Life for the TsarA Life for the Tsar , as it is known in English, although its original name was Ivan Susanin is a "patriotic-heroic tragic opera" in four acts with an epilogue by Mikhail Glinka. The original Russian libretto, based on historical events, was written by Nestor Kukolnik, Georgy Fyodorovich Rozen,...
(1836), Ruslan and Ludmila (1842) - Aleksandr SerovAlexander SerovAlexander Nikolayevich Serov – was a Russian composer and music critic. He and his wife Valentina were the parents of painter Valentin Serov...
: JudithJudith (Serov)Judith , is an opera in five acts, composed by Alexander Serov during 1861-1863. Derived from renditions of the story of Judith from the Old Testament Apocrypha, the Russian libretto, though credited to the composer, has a complicated history . The premiere took place in 1863 in Saint Petersburg...
(1863), RognedaRogneda (opera)Rogneda is an opera in five acts, composed by Alexander Serov during 1863–1865. The scenario, by the composer, was based on the novel Askold's Grave by Mikhail Zagoskin and the poem Rogneda by Kondraty Ryleyev...
(1865), The Power of the FiendThe Power of the FiendThe Power of the Fiend is an opera in five acts by Alexander Serov, composed during 1867-1871. The libretto is derived from a comedy by Alexander Ostrovsky from 1854 entitled Live Not As You Would Like To, But As God Commands. The opera was premiered posthumously on 19 April 1871 at the...
(1871) - Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
: Don CarlosDon CarlosDon Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
(1867) - César CuiCésar CuiCésar Antonovich Cui was a Russian of French and Lithuanian descent. His profession was as an army officer and a teacher of fortifications; his avocational life has particular significance in the history of music, in that he was a composer and music critic; in this sideline he is known as a...
: William RatcliffWilliam Ratcliff (Cui)William Ratcliff is an opera in three acts, composed by César Cui during 1861-1868; it was premiered on 14 February 1869 at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg under the conductorship of Eduard Nápravník...
(1868) - Alexander DargomyzhskyAlexander DargomyzhskyAlexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky was a 19th century Russian composer. He bridged the gap in Russian opera composition between Mikhail Glinka and the later generation of The Five and Tchaikovsky....
: The Stone GuestThe Stone Guest (Dargomyzhsky)The Stone Guest is an opera in three acts by Alexander Dargomyzhsky. The libretto was taken almost verbatim from Alexander Pushkin's like-named play in blank verse , with slight changes in wording and the interpolation of two songs indicated in the play...
(1869) - Nikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
: The Maid of PskovThe Maid of PskovThe Maid of Pskov , is an opera in three acts and six scenes by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The libretto was written by the composer, and is based on the drama of the same name by Lev Mei. The story concerns the Tsar Ivan the Terrible and his efforts to subject the cities of Pskov and Novgorod to his...
(1872)
Performance practice
A conflation of the 1869 and 1872 versions is often made when staging or recording Boris Godunov. This typically involves choosing the 1872 version and augmenting it with the St. Basil's Scene from the 1869 version. This practice is popular because it conserves a maximum amount of music, it gives the title character another appearance on stage, and because in the St. Basil's Scene Boris is challenged by the Yurodivïy, the embodiment of his conscience.However, because the composer transferred the episode of the Yurodivïy and the urchins from the St. Basil's Scene to the Kromï Scene when revising the opera, restoring the St. Basil's Scene to its former location creates a problem of duplicate episodes, which can be partially solved by cuts. Most performances that follow this practice cut the robbery of the Yurodivïy in the Kromï Scene, but duplicate his lament that ends each scene.
The Rimsky-Korsakov Version is often augmented with the Ippolitov-Ivanov
Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov was a Russian composer, conductor and teacher.- Biography :...
reorchestration of the St. Basil's Scene (commissioned by the Bolshoi Theatre
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
in 1925, composed in 1926, and first performed in 1927).
Conductors may elect to restore the cuts the composer himself made in writing the 1872 version [see Versions in this article for more details]. The 1997 Mariinsky Theatre recording under Valery Gergiev
Valery Gergiev
Valery Abisalovich Gergiev is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.- Early life :Gergiev,...
is the first and only to present the 1869 Original Version side by side with the 1872 Revised Version, and, it would seem, attempts to set a new standard for musicological authenticity. However, although it possesses many virtues, the production fails to scrupulously separate the two versions, admitting elements of the 1872 version into the 1869 recording, and failing to observe cuts the composer made in the 1872 version.
Critics argue that the practice of restoring the St. Basil's scene and all the cuts that Mussorgsky made when revising the opera—that is, creating a "supersaturated" version—can have negative consequences, believing that it destroys the symmetrical scene structure of the Revised Version, it undermines the composer's carefully devised and subtle system of leitmotiv deployment, and results in the overexposure of the Dmitriy motive.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov 1896
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
undertook to put his scores in order, completing and editing Khovanshchina
Khovanshchina
Khovanshchina is an opera in five acts by Modest Mussorgsky. The work was written between 1872 and 1880 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The composer wrote the libretto based on historical sources...
for publication (1883) reconstructing Night on Bald Mountain
Night on Bald Mountain
Night on Bald Mountain is a composition by Modest Mussorgsky that exists in, at least, two versions—a seldom performed 1867 version or a later and very popular "fantasy for orchestra" arranged by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, A Night on the Bare Mountain , based on the vocal score of the "Dream Vision...
(1886), and "correcting" some songs. Next, he turned to Boris.
He experimented first with the Polonaise, temporarily scoring it for a Wagner-sized orchestra in 1889. In 1892 he revised the Coronation Scene, and, working from the 1874 Vocal Score, completed the remainder of the opera, although with significant cuts, by 1896.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov 1908
In the spring of 1906, Rimsky-Korsakov revised and orchestrated several passages omitted in the 1896 revision:- "Pimen's story of Tsars Ivan and Fyodor"
- "Over the map of the Muscovite land"
- "The story of the parrot"
- "The chiming clock"
- "The scene of the False Dmitriy with Rangoni at the fountain"
- "The False Dmitriy's soliloquy after the Polonaise"
Rimsky-Korsakov compiled a new edition in 1908, this time restoring the cuts, and making some significant changes:
- He added some music to the Coronation Scene, because producer Sergey DyagilevSergei DiaghilevSergei Pavlovich Diaghilev , usually referred to outside of Russia as Serge, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise.-Early life and career:...
wanted more stage spectacle for the Paris premiere. The additions are a 40 bar insert placed before Boris's monologue, and a 16 bar insert following it, both of which are based on the bell motifs that open the scene and on the "Slava" theme. - He altered the dynamics of the end of the Inn Scene, making the conclusion loud and bombastic, perhaps because he was dissatisfied that all of Mussorgsky's scenes with the exception of the Coronation Scene end quietly.
- He similarly altered the conclusion of the Fountain Scene, replacing Mussorgsky's quiet moonlit trio with a grand peroration combining the 6 note descending theme that opens the scene, the 5 note rhythmic figure that opens the Polonaise, and the lusty cries of "Vivat!" that close the Polonaise.
These revisions clearly went beyond mere reorchestration. He made substantial modifications to harmony, melody, dynamics, etc., even changing the order of scenes.
Rimsky-Korsakov immediately came under fire from some critics for altering Boris, particularly in France, where his revision was introduced. The defense usually made by his supporters was that without his ministrations, Mussorgsky's opera would have faded from the repertory due to difficulty in appreciating his raw and uncompromising idiom. Therefore, Rimsky-Korsakov was justified in making improvements to keep the work alive and increase the public's awareness of Mussorgsky's melodic and dramatic genius.
The Rimsky-Korsakov version remained the one usually performed in Russia, even after Mussorgsky's earthier original (1872) regained its place in Western opera houses. The Bolshoi Theatre has only recently embraced the composer's own version.
Dmitri Shostakovich 1940
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
worked on Boris Godunov in 1939–1940 on a commission from the Bolshoi Theatre
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
for a new production of the opera. A conflation of the 1868 and 1872 versions had been published by Pavel Lamm and aroused keen interest in the piece. However, it did not erase doubts as to whether Mussorgsky's own orchestration was playable. The invasion of Russia by Nazi Germany prevented this production from taking place, and it was not until 1959 that Shostakovich's version of the score was premiered.
To Shostakovich, Mussorgsky was successful with solo instrumental timbres in soft passages but did not fare as well with louder moments for the whole orchestra. Shostakovich explained:
Shostakovich confined himself largely to reorchestrating the opera, and was more respectful of the composer's unique melodic and harmonic style. However, Shostakovich greatly increased the contributions of the woodwind and especially brass instruments to the score, a significant departure from the practice of Mussorgsky, who exercised great restraint in his instrumentation, preferring to utilize the individual qualities of these instruments for specific purposes. Shostakovich also aimed for a greater symphonic development, wanting the orchestra to do more than simply accompany the singers.
Shostakovich remembered Alexander Glazunov
Alexander Glazunov
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was a Russian composer of the late Russian Romantic period, music teacher and conductor...
telling him how Mussorgsky himself played scenes from Boris at the piano. Mussorgsky's renditions, according to Glazunov, were brilliant and powerful—qualities Shostakovich felt did not come through in the orchestration of much of Boris. Shostakovich, who had known the opera since his student days at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, assumed that Mussorgsky's orchestral intentions were correct but that Mussorgsky simply could not realize them:
One of those "old shore" moments was the large monastery bell in the scene in the monk's cell. Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov both use the gong. To Shostakovich, this was too elemental and simplistic to be effective dramatically, since this bell showed the atmosphere of the monk's estragement. "When the bell tolls," Shostakovich told Solomon Volkov
Solomon Volkov
Solomon Moiseyevich Volkov is a Russian journalist and musicologist. He is best known for Testimony, which was published in 1979 following his emigration from the Soviet Union in 1976...
, "it's a reminder that there are powers mightier than man, that you can't escape the judgment of history." Therefore, Shostakovich reorchestrated the bell's tolling by the simultaneous playing of seven instruments—bass clarinet, double bassoon, French horns, gong, harps, piano, and double basses (at an octave). To Shostakovich, this combination of instruments sounded more like a real bell.
Shostakovich admitted Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestration was more colorful than his own and used brighter timbres. However, he also felt that Rimsky-Korsakov chopped up the melodic lines too much and, by blending melody and subvoices, may have subverted much of Mussorgsky's intent. Shostakovich also felt that Rimsky-Korsakov did not use the orchestra flexibly enough to follow the characters' mood changes, instead making the orchestra calmer, more balanced.
Igor Buketoff 1997
The American conductor Igor BuketoffIgor Buketoff
Igor Buketoff was an American conductor, arranger and teacher. He had a special affinity with Russian music and with Sergei Rachmaninoff in particular. He also strongly promoted British contemporary music, and new music in general.- Biography :Buketoff was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the son...
created a version in which he removed most of Rimsky-Korsakov's additions and reorchestrations, and fleshed out some other parts of Mussorgsky's original orchestration. This version had its first performance in 1997 at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, New York, under Valery Gergiev
Valery Gergiev
Valery Abisalovich Gergiev is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.- Early life :Gergiev,...
.
Recordings
| Year | Cast (Boris, Pretender, Marina) |
Conductor, Opera House and/or Orchestra |
Version | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Mark Reizen Mark Reizen Mark Osipovich Reizen, also Reisen or Reyzen — died November 25, 1992 Moscow, Russia) was a leading Soviet opera singer with a beautiful and expansive bass voice.-Life and career:... , Georgy Nelepp, Mariya Maksakova |
Nikolai Golovanov, Bolshoi Theatre Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world... Chorus and Orchestra |
Rimsky-Korsakov 1908 | CD: Aquarius Cat: AQVR 1772 |
| 1949 | Alexander Pirogov Alexander Pirogov Alexander Stepanovich Pirogov was a Russian bass opera singer.Pirogov was born in the village of Novosyolki, one of five sons of a musical father. Four of the five brothers became singers, most notably Grigory, also a bass.... , George Nelepp, Mariya Maksakova |
Nikolai Golovanov, Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra |
Rimsky-Korsakov 1908 | CD: Opera d'Oro Cat: OPD 1363 |
| 1952 | Boris Christoff Boris Christoff Boris Christoff was a Bulgarian opera singer... , Nicolai Gedda Nicolai Gedda Nicolai Gedda is a Swedish operatic tenor. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is said to be the most widely recorded tenor in history... , Eugenia Zareska |
Issay Dobrowen Issay Dobrowen Issay Alexandrovich Dobrowen was a Russian-Norwegian pianist, composer and conductor.He was born Itschok Zorachovitch Barabeitchik in Nizhny Novgorod, Russian Empire of Jewish parents. He left the Soviet Union in 1922, and became a Norwegian citizen in 1929.He once played Beethoven's Sonata... , Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française |
Rimsky-Korsakov 1908 | CD: Brilliant Classics Opera Collection Cat: 93926 |
| 1954 | Miroslav Čangalović Miroslav Cangalovic Miroslav Čangalović was a Serbian opera and concert singer and is considered to be one of the greatest basses in Serbian and Yugoslav history.Čangalović was born in a small Bosnian town of Glamoč... , Miro Branjnik, Melanie Bugarinovich |
Kreshimir Baranovich, Belgrade National Opera Orchestra National Theatre in Belgrade The National Theatre was founded in the latter half of the 19th century. It is located on Republic Square, in Belgrade, Serbia.The National Theatre was declared a Monument of Culture of Great Importance in 1983, and it is protected by the Republic of Serbia.... |
Rimsky-Korsakov 1908 | 33rpm LP: London Cat: XLLA 31 |
| 1954 | Alexander Pirogov, George Nelepp, Larisa Avdeyeva |
Vassili Nebolsin Vassili Nebolsin Vassili Vassilyevich Nebolsin was a Russian conductor. He studied at the college of the Moscow Philharmonic and became conductor of the orchestra in 1918. He became choir master of the Bolshoi in 1920 and its conductor in 1922. He taught at the Moscow Conservatory from 1940 to 1945... , Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra |
Rimsky-Korsakov 1908 | DVD Video: Video Artists International Cat: VAI 4253 |
| 1962 | Boris Christoff, Dimiter Uzunov, Evelyn Lear Evelyn Lear Evelyn Lear is an American soprano and opera singer.During her career between 1959 and 1992, Evelyn Lear appeared in more than forty operatic roles, appeared with every major opera company in the US and won a Grammy Award in 1966... |
André Cluytens André Cluytens André Cluytens was a Belgian-born French conductor who was active in the concert hall, opera house and recording studio. His repertoire extended from Viennese classics through French composers to 20th century works... , Orchestre de la Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire The Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire was a symphony orchestra established in Paris in 1828. It gave its first concert on 9 March 1828 with music by Beethoven, Rossini, Meifreid, Rode and Cherubini.... |
Rimsky-Korsakov 1908 | CD: EMI Cat: 5 67877-2 |
| 1962 | Ivan Petrov, Vladimir Ivanovsky, Irina Arkhipova |
Alexander Melik-Pashayev Alexander Melik-Pashayev Alexander Shamil'evich Melik-Pashayev was a Soviet- conductor.-External links:**... , Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra |
Rimsky-Korsakov 1908 | CD: Melodiya Cat: MEL CD 10 00764 |
| 1963 | George London, Vladimir Ivanovsky, Irina Arkhipova |
Alexander Melik-Pashayev, Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra |
Rimsky-Korsakov 1908 | CD: Sony Cat: SM3K 52571 |
| 1967 | Miroslav Čangalović Miroslav Cangalovic Miroslav Čangalović was a Serbian opera and concert singer and is considered to be one of the greatest basses in Serbian and Yugoslav history.Čangalović was born in a small Bosnian town of Glamoč... , Ljubomir Bodurov, Breda Kalef |
Dushan Miladinovic, Belgrade Opera Chorus and Orchestra |
Shostakovich 1940 | CD: Arkadia Cat: MP 492.3 |
| 1970 | Nicolai Ghiaurov Nicolai Ghiaurov Nicolai Ghiaurov was a Bulgarian opera singer and one of the most famous bass singers of the postwar period. He was admired for his powerful, sumptuous voice, and was particularly associated with roles of Verdi.Ghiaurov married the Italian soprano Mirella Freni in 1978... , Ludovic Spiess, Galina Vishnevskaya Galina Vishnevskaya Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya is a Russian soprano opera singer and recitalist who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1966.-Biography:... |
Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor. To the wider world he was perhaps most famously associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was principal conductor for 35 years... , Wiener Philharmoniker |
Rimsky-Korsakov 1908 | CD: Decca Cat: 000747902 |
| 1973 | Nikolai Ghiuselev, Dimiter Damiano, Alexandrina Milcheva |
Assen Naidenov, Sofia National Opera Chorus and Orchestra |
Rimsky-Korsakov 1908 | CD: Fidelio Cat: D 1824-26 |
| 1976 | Martti Talvela Martti Talvela Martti Talvela was a Finnish operatic bass.Born in Hiitola, Finland , he studied in Lahti and Stockholm, and made his operatic debut in Helsinki in 1960 as Sparafucile. At , he was the tallest singer of his century. He trained as a boxer in his youth and developed the stamina necessary for the... , Nicolai Gedda, Bozena Kinasz |
Jerzy Semkow, Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra, Polish Radio Chorus of Kraków |
Mussorgsky 1872 | CD: EMI Cat: 5 09178 |
| 1978 | Yevgeniy Nesterenko, Vladislav Piavko, Irina Arkhipova |
Boris Khaykin, Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra |
Rimsky-Korsakov 1908 | DVD: Via Classic Cat: 5 99278-9 |
| 1983 | Aleksandr Vedernikov, Piavko, Irina Arkhipova |
Vladimir Fedoseyev Vladimir Fedoseyev Vladimir Ivanovich Fedoseyev is a Russian conductor.Fedoseyev graduated from the Gnessin State Musical College 1957, and Moscow Conservatory 1972. From 1974 artistic director and chief conductor of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio 1974-1999. He has also served as principal... , USSR State Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra and Chorus |
Mussorgsky 1872 | CD: Philips Cat: 412 281-2 |
| 1985 | Yevgeny Nesterenko, Vladimir Atlantov, Elena Obraztsova Elena Obraztsova Elena Vasiliyevna Obraztsova is a Russian mezzo-soprano, widely recognised as one of the greatest opera singers of all time, thanks to her outstanding stage presence and the vocal abilities.... |
Mark Ermler Mark Ermler Mark Fridrikhovich Ermler was a Russian conductor.-Biography:Mark Ermler was born in Leningrad in 1932. His parents were Vera Bakun, a film set designer, and Friedrich Ermler, a film director. He began to study piano at age 5.... , Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra |
Rimsky-Korsakov 1908 | CD: Regis Records Cat: RRC 3006 |
| 1986 | Aage Haugland Aage Haugland Aage Haugland was a Danish operatic bass.- Life and career :He was born in Copenhagen and made his professional debut in Oslo in 1968. From 1970 to 1973 he was based in Bremen, and appeared at Den Jyske Opera in Aarhus in 1972... , Stig Fogh Andersen Stig Fogh Andersen Stig Fogh Andersen is a Danish operatic tenor. He is considered one of the most famous Wagner-tenors, "one of the leading Siegfrieds in the world today".He is married to Tina Kiberg, who is also an opera singer.... , ?? |
Dmitri Kitaienko, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir |
Mussorgsky 1872 | CD: Kontrapunkt Cat: 32036-32037 |
| 1986 | Nicolai Ghiaurov, Michail Svetlev, Stefka Mineva |
Emil Tchakarov, Sofia Festival Orchestra, Sofia National Opera Chorus |
Mussorgsky 1872 | CD: Sony Cat: S3K 45763 |
| 1987 | Yevgeniy Nesterenko, Vladislav Piavko, Tamara Sinyavskaya |
Alexander Lazarev Alexander Lazarev Alexander Lazarev is a Russian conductor. He studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, and later at the Moscow Conservatory with Leo Ginsbourg. In 1971, he was the first prize winner in a national conducting competition in the USSR... , Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra |
Rimsky-Korsakov 1908 | DVD: 6991811 Cat: 6991811 |
| 1987 | Ruggero Raimondi Ruggero Raimondi Ruggero Raimondi is an Italian bass-baritone opera singer who has also appeared in motion pictures.-Early training and career:Ruggero Raimondi was born in Bologna, Italy, during World War II... , Vyacheslav Polozov, Galina Vishnevskaya |
Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of... , National Symphony Orchestra, The Choral Arts Society of Washington and Oratorio Society of Washington, D.C. |
Mussorgsky 1872 | Audio: ERATO Cat: 2292-45418-2 |
| 1990 | Robert Lloyd, Alexei Steblianko, Olga Borodina Olga Borodina Olga Vladimirovna Borodina is a leading dramatic mezzo-soprano, known for her roles in Russian operas at her home company, the Mariinsky Theatre, and for her international performing and recording career in a varied repertoire.Borodina made her debut in Samson and Delilah at the Royal Opera House... |
Valery Gergiev Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.- Early life :Gergiev,... , Kirov Opera Chorus and Orchestra Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The... |
Mussorgsky 1872 | DVD: Philips Cat: 075 089-9 |
| 1993 | Anatoly Kotscherga, Sergej Larin, Marjana Lipovšek |
Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian conductor. He has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera,... , Berliner Philharmoniker, Slovak Philharmonic Chorus, Rundfunkchor Berlin |
Mussorgsky 1872 | CD: Sony «Classical» Cat: S3K 58977 |
| 1997 | Nikolai Putilin, Viktor Lutsyuk, ?? |
Valery Gergiev, Kirov Opera Chorus and Orchestra |
Mussorgsky 1869 | Audio: Philips Cat: 462 230-2 |
| 1997 | Vladimir Vaneev, Vladimir Galusin, Olga Borodina |
Valery Gergiev, Kirov Opera Chorus and Orchestra |
Mussorgsky 1872 | Audio: Philips Cat: 462 230-2 |
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: Opera, DimitrijDimitrijDimitrij is an opera by Antonín Dvořák in 4 acts, set a libretto by Marie Červinková-Riegrová. More specifically, it belongs to the genre of Grand Opera. The work was first performed in Prague, at the Nové České Divadlo on 8 October 1882, after Dvořák began composition during May 1881...
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, Boris Godunov (1936)
External links
Libretto- English translation of Boris Godunov from Archive.org
- Russian libretto in HTML
- Russian libretto in HTML
- Russian libretto in zip file for Word
Other
- Upcoming performances of Boris Godunov from Operabase.com