Boris Godunov

This polished and consistent version of Modest Mussorgsky’s groundbreaking “Boris Godunov” features an impressive group of all-star musicians. Conductor Claudio Abbado’s interpretation doesn’t have the wildness of some recordings or the finely-honed detail of Mstlav Rostropovich’s Erato release from the 1980s but it has body and richness. Every aspect of it is at least good and often quite a bit better than that.The opera has an interesting genesis, conceived and first written by Mussorgsky in the 1860s, a decade of ferment in Russian music and also a decade when exceptional focus was concentrated on the era of Ivan the Terrible (late 16th century) and the ‘Time of Troubles’ that followed the tyrant’s death. The odd fixation with such a distant historical period was at least partly caused by the Romanov dynasty’s interdiction of any portrayal of their royal ancestors on stage. As the Romanov’s were the dominant force in Russia, how could playwrights and opera composers then comment on history and high politics with such a rule? They followed that traditional pathway around forbidden unmentionables and transposed the drama somewhere else, to a place far enough away to evade restrictions set down by the tsar’s censors, but close enough to hold echoes of their own era. Moreover, the drama of the paranoid and murderous Ivan -- his fight with the hereditary nobility, his succession by Boris Godunov, and the swarm of social decay, chaos and civil war dubbed the Time of Troubles that followed – is colorful and intriguing enough to present inspiring raw material for any stage work.The opera’s story centers on the pretender Dmitri, who claimed – almost certainly untruthfully – to be the son of Ivan whom Godunov had murdered many years before. I say untruthfully because the sources accusing Godunov of this crime all date from the early part of the Romanov rule and hence served partly as propaganda to discredit the new dynasty’s predecessors. Sources closer in time to the events did not report Dmitri’s death as suspicious. Boris Godunov, a good man and wise ruler undone by a crime of many years ago, is the target of the lying pretender and the forces, foreign ones (Mussorgsky was likely a pretty strong xenophobe), which propelled him onto the throne. In the famous and innovative Kromy forest scene that concludes the opera, chaos and murder spread and the simpleton is left bewailing the fate of the ever-suffering Russian people.An autodidact of genius, Mussorgsky is perhaps the 19th century’s most original composer. ‘Boris’ is full of starkly arranged modal themes, constructed out of scale patterns that prompted symmetrical repetition rather than the more directional traditional harmonic patterns of his contemporaries. For me, the anticipation of the art of Igor Stravinsky permeates ‘Boris’. Mussorgsky’s lack of formal training certainly handicapped his compositional career, but it also allowed him to write fresh and very original music that stands outside of its epoch.Headlined by Anatoly Kotcherga in the title role, the cast here is strong and includes top-notch singers like Philip Langridge, Samuel Ramey and Sergei Leiferkus in supporting roles and Marjana Lipsovek as the Polish princess Mariana. I mentioned this release’s consistency and it’s worth underlining again that there don’t appear to be any weak areas. The outstanding Rostropovich recording which I mentioned before –which I prefer over this fine Abbado set - does a better job of bringing out the nuances of orchestration and the inflections in the melodic phrases. Abbado and his singers instead present a smoother sound, one blending together the performing forces instead of isolating them.I have few doubts that pretty much everyone intending to listen to ‘Boris’ will enjoy and value this release as it is strong, from Abbado’s direction to the soloists to the fine choral work to the sound engineering – and don’t forget the bells! They sound great in the Prologue’s Coronation scene. A worthy version, worthy of 5 stars.

Glowing reviews on Abbado and his fine castings performance.Makes my job alot easier :-)Was there a finer Boris as Anatoly Kotcherga? The finest ever cast.Was there a more beautiful voice for Xenia than Valentina Valenta? The most beautiful voice ever cast.This Abbado recording is the only Boris you need. Gregiev's is great only for the slightly better chorus.I should also like to say that this opera has been accredited falsely to Mussorgsky's name ONLY. AS in fact Rimsky finished, that is completed the opera. M's original is far less polished and actually falls far short of Rimsky's completion. Also take note this opera's 2nd part offers only sporadic highlights of excellence, the moraority is a "dud' in comparision to the 1st part.What a shame that not one reviewer on any recordinsg make note of either these 2 facts. Classical music has a long way to go in the area of psychological honesty. I've noticed classicalphiles love to perpetuate lies and deceptions about their"church", their "religion',. "Oh Mussorgsky was SO GREAT, what a GREAT GREAT GREAT opera".I sure wish russia would end its suppression of Shosty's even better version than the Rimsky. but as russia loves her traditions , "long live Rimsky", we will never get to hear the best version, that of Shostakovich.Mussorgsky's origianl framework wasa dud, Rimsky's is good, but certainly not a great opera.For greatness you have to look to Wagner's Ring and all Mozart's masterpieces.

This is a highly "professional" recording of an extraordinary masterpiece and comes in a sensible performing edition consisting mainly of the 1874 version but with judicious inclusion of key passages and one scene from 1869; thus Abbado sanctions the inclusion of the longer of Pimen's accounts of the murder of the Tsarevich and the short scene in which the Simpleton tells Boris that he cannot pray for "a tsar Herod" and of course the opera concludes with the Kromy Forest scene but finally the simpleton's lament for Russia, transposed from that "Herod" scene. Thus the listener misses nothing that Mussorgsky wrote and the conflation forms a coherent and satisfying unity.However, there are three issues with this recording which somewhat compromise its desirability: first there is the question of whether it sounds authentically Russian and to my ears, at least to begin with, it does not but more like a good, international performance,lacking the gritty, elemental passion which distinguishes truly Russian versions. This has a lot to do with the polish of the Berlin Philharmonic, who are of course masterly but almost too refined; the same might be said of Abbado's conducting, which is highly skilled but typically somehow too bland and polite - at least in the opening scenes, which is why I say above "to begin with", as I find that as the recording progresses I hear more release and gusto in the performance. Certainly the combined chorus sings on a grand scale with real abandon and injects some of the earthiness previously missing. By the time we arrive at the Clock Scene, the joint is humming and that momentum is sustained through the Polish Act. The third reservation centres upon the eponymous lead singer. The challenge of recording Boris is daunting when one recognises that the very greatest Russian and Russian-singing basses have given us their haunted Tsar. Anatoly Kotcherga must compete with legendary interpreters such as, in reverse chronology, Nesterenko, Ghiaurov, Talvela, Christoff, London, Petrov, Pirogov, Reizen and of course Chaliapin -and who would want to be compared with that roster of artists? Kotcherga is a fine singer but does not have an especially imposing vocal presence and his characterisation lacks charisma.His tone can turn nasal and a little hoarse, especially when he pushes for volume, and at key points the middle of the voice lacks heft and resonance; some high notes are almost bawled. Having said that, he is intense and moving in his agony in the early aria "I have achieved supreme power". His soft singing is touching but his death scene fails to terrify in the way it can when Christoff sings it.The supporting cast is strong; the young baritone Albert Shagidullin makes a firm, if slightly constricted Shchelkalov. Sam Ramey makes a grave, dignified, beautifully intoned Pimen but is rather too smooth and elegant for the old priest. Sergei Larin is excellent: bright-toned, passionate and a credible vocal actor. Elena Zaremba is a pleasing Hostess, as are the Xenia and Nurse; the Fyodor is a good singer but as so often the case, too fruity to sound like a boy.. One Gleb Nikolsky is a big, blowsy Varlaam but I have heard richer basses make more of the part. Philip Langridge sounds remarkably idiomatic as the oily Shuisky. Marjana Lipovsek is a bold, somewhat gusty Marina who occasionally does strange things in bleaching out the tone and vibrato in her middle voice to sound hooty.The sound is first class, both in terms of depth and balance. The booklet is very full but as someone unfamiliar with the Cyrillic alphabet I would have found it much easier to follow the libretto if it offered a transliteration into the Western alphabet - however, a thoughtful guide to Cyrillic letters is also helpfully provided. I take issue with the tone of some of Pamela Davidson's English translation; surely "Phew! I feel terrible" strikes the wrong, too colloquial note and to translate the Boyars' collective utterance as "He has died" is simply unidiomatic; nobody says anything other than "He is dead", which is why the French says "Il est mort!" and the German "Er ist tot!"

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