Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov (1990)

The best Boris Godunov Opera ever filmed!?

Reviewing my comments and those written by others about this extaordinary opera, I do not think I can better what has been written in THE GRAMOPHONE
magazine, "This is masterly on almost every count, musical and visual, and would now be the outright choice for this work in all media...Front stage, as it were, are some of the best of the current generation of
Russian singers...Gergiev is another of the recording's heros. Seldom, if
ever...has the score sounded so hauntingly beautiful and apt for this huge
panorama of seventeenth-century Russia.. Don't miss this riveting experience."

Pesonally, I experienced the comment by my father, Dr. D W Stomberg, many years ago that a San Francisco staged production was boring, he almost fell asleep during the presentation. Not now, say I, this is all of the
aforementioned and more!
May 29, 2008

Best Boris

Having seen several live performances of this extraordinary opera, among them the Metropolitan, (I am 75), I consider this DVD a real treasure! April 17, 2008

Not for the faint of heart

Mussorgsky's opera BORIS GODUNOV is not for the faint of heart in any way! The story deals with the deception and treachery of Boris Godunov, a government minister in Russia in the early 1600s who becomes ruler when the reigning Czar he is serving dies, and then has the rightful heir to the throne, a young boy, murdered, thus assuring his ascent to power. Boris is eventually afflicted with guilt and goes mad. Mussorgsky's music is glorious, and there are lighter elements in the story line, but "Boris Godunov" is an opera with deep psychological and political meanings and lessons to be learned. This does not create the light-hearted mood of Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" or Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte", for example.

Valery Gergiev conducts the Kirov Orchestra in a live 1990 performance from St. Petersburg to a packed, enthused audience. English bass Robert Lloyd portrays Russia's tormented ruler with all the commitment I can imagine. The other singers, all Russians are not familiar to me, but they sing with commitment and energy. I'm not sure I like Varlaam's aria as well as Feodor Chaliapin sang it-available in a Naxos overview recording made in the late 1920s- but this "Boris.." is very well sung and acted.

Some viewers may not agree with my praise for this production, but I thought this was a terrific performance, and am overwhelmed by Mussorgsky's music, and the opera plot. I don't watch this very often: it is not for the faint of heart, and I must be in a certain, very strong mood to enjoy it. Recommended if you like (or can handle) the story line and Mussorgsky's music. November 14, 2005

Boris Godunov

I think that this DVD is the greatest opera DVD in my collection. The production itself is beautiful. All of the singers are fabulous. Rarely (particularly in a live production)are all of the singers first rate. The tessitura for Dimitri is a killer. The tenor handles it beautifully. The singer playing Pimen is a gem. His voice is wonderful and his acting is very entertaining. Borodina is magical in her love duet with Dimitri.

With this production, Boris stands up as one of the world's greatest operatic masterpieces along anything out of Wagner's or Verdi's top drawer.

By the way, the production has a very satisfying psychological quality to it. It is not a bunch of actors that are stiff as a board singing on a stage that is loaded with ornate sets. The production is very involving and really quite modern. The colors are breathtaking.

The DVD is fully entertaining and bears frequent reviewing. If I could, I would give it 10 stars November 6, 2005

Buy it for Mussorgsky's final version and Robert Lloyd's Boris

First, he has a pretty voice.
It's hard to find pretty bass-voices.
Even great singers like Ghiaurov can't be said without any reservation to posses a pretty voice.

Second, he is a superb actor, both vocally and visually.
He perhaps overacts occasionally, but in opera unlike in a spoken drama it's acceptable.

Mussorgsky's originals are superb to Rimsky-Korsakov's arrangement in any respect except for economy perhaps.
Take for example Boris' great monolog:
the first time the famous tune appear it begins on B flat; in the second time the second half of the tune is transposed a quart higher; and the third time it begins on E flat.
Rimsky transposed the beginnings of the first two, hence we get to hear the same tune three times unchanged.
What for?

Lloyd is a real deep-bass, which is another advantage for using Mussorgsky's original.
Because of Rimsky's transposition the bass has to reach the high G flat twice, which is a hard thing for a bass (perhaps it's better to give the part to a baritone whenever using Rimsky's version), and even young Ghiaurov cracked those notes a bit in Karajan's recording.
Mussorgsky's originals fit the bass tessitura better.

Now, for the rest of the cast: in one word - unsurpassable!
Steblianko has a huge voice and an astonishing flexibility.
Borodina is beautiful, both vocally and visually, and her duet with Leiferkus as Ragoni is stunning.

There is no place where Boris Godunov sounds better than where it was premiered - The Mariinsky Theatre!
Gergiev is outstanding.

The stage-direction is unique.

It's the definite "Boris Godunov" production. August 23, 2005

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