Nikolai Putilin, Vladimir Vaneev, Chorus of the Kirov Opera, Orchestra of the Kirov Opera, Valery Gergiev - Moussorgsky: Boris Godunov (1869 & 1872 Versions) [5CD] (1998)
![Nikolai Putilin, Vladimir Vaneev, Chorus of the Kirov Opera, Orchestra of the Kirov Opera, Valery Gergiev - Moussorgsky: Boris Godunov (1869 & 1872 Versions) [5CD] (1998)](https://www.dibpic.com/uploads/posts/2022-08/1661835424_nikolai-putilin-valery-gergiev-moussorgsky-boris-godunov-1998.jpg)
BAND/ARTIST: Nikolai Putilin, Vladimir Vaneev, Chorus of the Kirov Opera, Orchestra of the Kirov Opera, Valery Gergiev
- Title: Moussorgsky: Boris Godunov (1869 & 1872 Versions)
- Year Of Release: 1998
- Label: Decca Music Group Ltd.
- Genre: Classical
- Quality: flac lossless (tracks)
- Total Time: 05:10:07
- Total Size: 1.35 gb
- WebSite: Album Preview
Tracklist
CD1
01. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov / Part 1-Picture 1-Well, what are you waiting for?
02. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 1-Picture 1-For whom dost thou forsake us?
03. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 1-Picture 1-People of the Orthodox faith
04. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 1-Picture 1-Glory to thee, our Lord
05. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 1-Picture 2-Long live Tsar Boris Feodorovich
06. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 1-Picture 2-My soul is sad
07. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 1-Picture 2-Glory! Glory! Glory!
08. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 1-Just one more final tale
09. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 1-Lord, our Heav'nly Father-That same dream again
10. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 1-You have gone on writing
11. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 1-Holy father, for a long time
12. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 1-Boris, Boris!
13. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 2-Can I bring you anything, reverent fathers?
14. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 2-It all happened in the town of Kazan
15. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 1-Picture 2-Why don't you join in the singing?
16. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 2-There he goes-What sort of people are you?
17. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 2-I can read
CD2
01. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 3-My dear husband
02. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 3-That's enough now, my precious tsarevitch
03. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 3-I have achieved supreme power
04. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 3-Yesterday evening, Pushkin's servant...
05. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 3-No! Wait, wait, Shuisky
06. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 3-It is not execution that I fear
07. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 1-What? Is mass over?
08. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 1-Trrr, trrr, tin that-The moon is on its travels
09. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 1-What is he weeping about?
10. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-Boyars of noble rank
11. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-What? Let us vote, boyars
12. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-It's a pity that Prince Shuisky isn't here
13. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-Get away...get away!
14. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-A humble monk
15. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-Once, in a deep sleep
16. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-Leave us! All of you, go!
17. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-O Lord! Look down
CD3
01. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Prologue-Picture 1-Well, what are you waiting for?
02. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Prologue-Picture 1-For whom dost thou forsake us?
03. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Prologue-Picture 1-People of the Orthodox faith
04. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Prologue-Picture 1-Glory to thee, our Lord
05. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Prologue-Picture 2-Long live Tsar Boris Feodorovich
06. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Prologue-Picture 2-My soul is sad
07. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Prologue-Picture 2-Glory! Glory! Glory!
08. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 1-Just one more final tale
09. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 1-Lord, our Heavenly father-That same dream again
10. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 1-You have gone on writing
11. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 1-Holy father, for a long time
12. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 1-It is the bell for matins
13. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 2-I caught a grey drake
14. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 2-It all happened in the town of Kazan
15. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 2-Why don't you join in the singing?
16. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 2-There he goes-What sort of people are you?
17. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 2-I can read
CD4
01. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Where are you, my dear husband?
02. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Ah! That's enough now
03. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-So the gnat was chopping some firewood
04. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Ah, nurse, nanny
05. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Ah!-What? Has a wild beast...
06. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-I have achieved supreme power
07. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-How heavily weights the right hand of the fearful judge
08. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Ah, shoo!
09. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Our little parrot was sitting
10. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-My son, my own dear child!
11. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Ah, the most illustrious orator
12. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Take measures immediatly
13. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-At the cathedral in Uglich
14. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 1-On the azure Vistula
15. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 1-Enough!
16. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov / Act 3-Ruzya, I do not need you today-How tediously...
17. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 1-Ah! It's you, my father!
18. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 1-Captivate the Pretender with your beauty!
19. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 1-Your eyes have started to sparkle with a hellish flame
20. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-At midnight...in the garden...near the fountain
21. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-Tsarevich!
22. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-A humble, sinful pilgrim
23. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-Tsarevich, conceal yourself!
24. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-That crafty Jesuit
25. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-The wife of that toothless debauchee
26. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-It is she! Marina!
27. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-But it is not for amorous conversations
28. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-You alone, Marina I worship
29. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-Leaders from all corners of Russia
30. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-O, Tsarevich, I beg you, do nor curse me
CD5
01. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-Boyars of noble rank
02. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-What? Let us vote, boyars
03. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-It's a pity that Prince Shuisky isn't here
04. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-Get away...get away!
05. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-A humble monk
06. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-Once, in a deep sleep
07. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-Leave us! All of you, go!
08. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-O Lord! Look down
09. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-Over here! Sit him down on the stump!
10. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-Trrr, trrr, tin hat!-The moon is on its travels
11. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-The sun and the moon have faded
12. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-Hurrah! Daring boldness has broken free
13. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-Domine, salvum fac Regem
14. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-Glory to you, tsarevitch!
15. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-We, Dimitri Ivanovich
16. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-Flow, flow bitter tears!
What we have here is, literally, two operas for the price of one. That's to say, the two discs containing Mussorgsky's first Boris Godunov and the three containing his second are available at five discs for the normal cost of three. And, in a real sense, what we're dealing with is two operas.
First, a brief resumé of the facts. In 1868-9 Mussorgsky composed seven scenes: outside the Novedevichy Monastery, Coronation outside the Kremlin, Pimen's Cell, the Inn, the Tsar's rooms in the Kremlin, outside St Basil's Cathedral, Boris's Death in the Kremlin. When these were rejected by the Imperial Theatres in 1872, he made various revisions. To meet objections about the lack of female roles, Mussorgsky added the two scenes with the Polish princess Marina Mniszek; he also substituted the final Kromy Forest scene for the St Basil's scene. He made a large number of adjustments, some of a minor nature, some rather more significant (such as dropping Pimen's narration of the murder of the young Tsarevich), and one huge, the complete rewriting of the original fifth scene, in the Kremlin, sometimes known as the Terem scene. This was the work that he resubmitted, and which was first performed in St Petersburg in 1874. Rimsky-Korsakov's famous version (which does much more than reorchestrate) was first heard in 1896, and for many years superseded its predecessors.
However, it has increasingly been recognised that Boris II isn't a revision of Boris I but a different work, both as regards the view of the central character and his place in the historical narrative, and also as regards the rethought musical technique and sometimes change of idiom which this has brought about. Therefore the present set makes a real contribution to our understanding and enjoyment of Russia's greatest opera. It follows that there have to be two singers of the central role.
Putilin (Boris I) is in general more capacious in tone, more brooding and lofty, in the Terem scene more embittered and harsh, willing to act with the voice. Vaneyev is a decidedly more immediate and human Boris, tender with his son Fyodor (a touching, engaging performance from Zlata Bulycheva) both in the Terem and at the end, not always as dominating as this Tsar should be but sympathetic, allowing his voice to blanch as death approaches, and especially responsive to the melodic essence of Mussorgsky's speech-delivered lines. This enables him to be rather freer with the actual note values. It doesn't necessarily matter that much: Mussorgsky changed his mind over various details, and the important thing is to use his notes to create character rather than be too literal with what the different versions propose.
Pimen, strongly sung with a hint of the youthful passions that he claims to have abjured, is sung by Nikolai Okhotnikov more or less identically in both performances.
The only character, apart from Boris, to be accorded two singers is Grigory, the False Dmitri. Viktor Lutsiuk (Boris I) is strenuous, obsessed, vital; Vladimir Galusin (Boris II) can sound more frenzied, and has the opportunity with the addition of the Polish acts to give a convincing portrayal of a weak man assuming strength but being undermined by the wiles of a determined woman. Here, she's none other than Olga Borodina, moodily toying with her polonaise rhythms and then in full sensuous call.
Yevgenia Gorokhovskaya is a jolly old Nurse in the Boris II Terem scene. The rest of the cast do not really change their interpretations from one Boris to another, and indeed scarcely need to do so: it isn't really upon that which the differences depend. Liubov Sokolova sings a fruity Hostess, welcoming in Fyodor Kuznetsov a Varlaam who can really sing his Kazan song rather than merely bawling it. Konstantin Pluzhnikov makes Shuisky move from the rather sinister force confronting Boris in the Terem to a more oily complacency in the Death scene: many Shuiskys make less of the part. Evgeny Nikitin is a creepy, fanatical Rangoni, Vassily Gerello a Shchelkalov of hypocritical elegance, Evgeny Akimov a sad-toned Simpleton. Gergiev directs strong, incisive performances, accompanying sympathetically and controlling the marvellous crowd scenes well.
However, it's a pity that he allows fierce whistles to drown the speeding violins opening the Kromy Forest scene (the music can be heard only when it returns), and he hasn't been given sufficient clarity of recording with the chorus.
The words are often obscure, even with the boyars in the Death scene, and far too much is lost in the crowd exchanges. This is regrettable for a work that, in either incarnation, draws so much on realistic detail of articulation.
Nevertheless, these five discs form a fascinating set, one no admirer of this extraordinary creative achievement can afford to ignore.
CD1
01. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov / Part 1-Picture 1-Well, what are you waiting for?
02. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 1-Picture 1-For whom dost thou forsake us?
03. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 1-Picture 1-People of the Orthodox faith
04. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 1-Picture 1-Glory to thee, our Lord
05. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 1-Picture 2-Long live Tsar Boris Feodorovich
06. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 1-Picture 2-My soul is sad
07. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 1-Picture 2-Glory! Glory! Glory!
08. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 1-Just one more final tale
09. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 1-Lord, our Heav'nly Father-That same dream again
10. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 1-You have gone on writing
11. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 1-Holy father, for a long time
12. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 1-Boris, Boris!
13. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 2-Can I bring you anything, reverent fathers?
14. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 2-It all happened in the town of Kazan
15. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 1-Picture 2-Why don't you join in the singing?
16. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 2-There he goes-What sort of people are you?
17. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 2-Picture 2-I can read
CD2
01. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 3-My dear husband
02. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 3-That's enough now, my precious tsarevitch
03. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 3-I have achieved supreme power
04. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 3-Yesterday evening, Pushkin's servant...
05. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 3-No! Wait, wait, Shuisky
06. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 3-It is not execution that I fear
07. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 1-What? Is mass over?
08. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 1-Trrr, trrr, tin that-The moon is on its travels
09. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 1-What is he weeping about?
10. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-Boyars of noble rank
11. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-What? Let us vote, boyars
12. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-It's a pity that Prince Shuisky isn't here
13. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-Get away...get away!
14. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-A humble monk
15. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-Once, in a deep sleep
16. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-Leave us! All of you, go!
17. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin (Version 1869)-Part 4-Picture 2-O Lord! Look down
CD3
01. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Prologue-Picture 1-Well, what are you waiting for?
02. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Prologue-Picture 1-For whom dost thou forsake us?
03. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Prologue-Picture 1-People of the Orthodox faith
04. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Prologue-Picture 1-Glory to thee, our Lord
05. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Prologue-Picture 2-Long live Tsar Boris Feodorovich
06. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Prologue-Picture 2-My soul is sad
07. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Prologue-Picture 2-Glory! Glory! Glory!
08. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 1-Just one more final tale
09. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 1-Lord, our Heavenly father-That same dream again
10. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 1-You have gone on writing
11. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 1-Holy father, for a long time
12. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 1-It is the bell for matins
13. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 2-I caught a grey drake
14. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 2-It all happened in the town of Kazan
15. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 2-Why don't you join in the singing?
16. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 2-There he goes-What sort of people are you?
17. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 1-Picture 2-I can read
CD4
01. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Where are you, my dear husband?
02. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Ah! That's enough now
03. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-So the gnat was chopping some firewood
04. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Ah, nurse, nanny
05. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Ah!-What? Has a wild beast...
06. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-I have achieved supreme power
07. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-How heavily weights the right hand of the fearful judge
08. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Ah, shoo!
09. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Our little parrot was sitting
10. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-My son, my own dear child!
11. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Ah, the most illustrious orator
12. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-Take measures immediatly
13. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 2-At the cathedral in Uglich
14. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 1-On the azure Vistula
15. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 1-Enough!
16. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov / Act 3-Ruzya, I do not need you today-How tediously...
17. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 1-Ah! It's you, my father!
18. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 1-Captivate the Pretender with your beauty!
19. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 1-Your eyes have started to sparkle with a hellish flame
20. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-At midnight...in the garden...near the fountain
21. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-Tsarevich!
22. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-A humble, sinful pilgrim
23. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-Tsarevich, conceal yourself!
24. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-That crafty Jesuit
25. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-The wife of that toothless debauchee
26. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-It is she! Marina!
27. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-But it is not for amorous conversations
28. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-You alone, Marina I worship
29. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-Leaders from all corners of Russia
30. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 3-Picture 2-O, Tsarevich, I beg you, do nor curse me
CD5
01. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-Boyars of noble rank
02. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-What? Let us vote, boyars
03. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-It's a pity that Prince Shuisky isn't here
04. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-Get away...get away!
05. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-A humble monk
06. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-Once, in a deep sleep
07. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-Leave us! All of you, go!
08. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 1-O Lord! Look down
09. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-Over here! Sit him down on the stump!
10. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-Trrr, trrr, tin hat!-The moon is on its travels
11. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-The sun and the moon have faded
12. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-Hurrah! Daring boldness has broken free
13. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-Domine, salvum fac Regem
14. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-Glory to you, tsarevitch!
15. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-We, Dimitri Ivanovich
16. Mussorgsky: Boris Godounov-Moussorgsky after Pushkin and Karamazin/Version 1872-Act 4-Picture 2-Flow, flow bitter tears!
What we have here is, literally, two operas for the price of one. That's to say, the two discs containing Mussorgsky's first Boris Godunov and the three containing his second are available at five discs for the normal cost of three. And, in a real sense, what we're dealing with is two operas.
First, a brief resumé of the facts. In 1868-9 Mussorgsky composed seven scenes: outside the Novedevichy Monastery, Coronation outside the Kremlin, Pimen's Cell, the Inn, the Tsar's rooms in the Kremlin, outside St Basil's Cathedral, Boris's Death in the Kremlin. When these were rejected by the Imperial Theatres in 1872, he made various revisions. To meet objections about the lack of female roles, Mussorgsky added the two scenes with the Polish princess Marina Mniszek; he also substituted the final Kromy Forest scene for the St Basil's scene. He made a large number of adjustments, some of a minor nature, some rather more significant (such as dropping Pimen's narration of the murder of the young Tsarevich), and one huge, the complete rewriting of the original fifth scene, in the Kremlin, sometimes known as the Terem scene. This was the work that he resubmitted, and which was first performed in St Petersburg in 1874. Rimsky-Korsakov's famous version (which does much more than reorchestrate) was first heard in 1896, and for many years superseded its predecessors.
However, it has increasingly been recognised that Boris II isn't a revision of Boris I but a different work, both as regards the view of the central character and his place in the historical narrative, and also as regards the rethought musical technique and sometimes change of idiom which this has brought about. Therefore the present set makes a real contribution to our understanding and enjoyment of Russia's greatest opera. It follows that there have to be two singers of the central role.
Putilin (Boris I) is in general more capacious in tone, more brooding and lofty, in the Terem scene more embittered and harsh, willing to act with the voice. Vaneyev is a decidedly more immediate and human Boris, tender with his son Fyodor (a touching, engaging performance from Zlata Bulycheva) both in the Terem and at the end, not always as dominating as this Tsar should be but sympathetic, allowing his voice to blanch as death approaches, and especially responsive to the melodic essence of Mussorgsky's speech-delivered lines. This enables him to be rather freer with the actual note values. It doesn't necessarily matter that much: Mussorgsky changed his mind over various details, and the important thing is to use his notes to create character rather than be too literal with what the different versions propose.
Pimen, strongly sung with a hint of the youthful passions that he claims to have abjured, is sung by Nikolai Okhotnikov more or less identically in both performances.
The only character, apart from Boris, to be accorded two singers is Grigory, the False Dmitri. Viktor Lutsiuk (Boris I) is strenuous, obsessed, vital; Vladimir Galusin (Boris II) can sound more frenzied, and has the opportunity with the addition of the Polish acts to give a convincing portrayal of a weak man assuming strength but being undermined by the wiles of a determined woman. Here, she's none other than Olga Borodina, moodily toying with her polonaise rhythms and then in full sensuous call.
Yevgenia Gorokhovskaya is a jolly old Nurse in the Boris II Terem scene. The rest of the cast do not really change their interpretations from one Boris to another, and indeed scarcely need to do so: it isn't really upon that which the differences depend. Liubov Sokolova sings a fruity Hostess, welcoming in Fyodor Kuznetsov a Varlaam who can really sing his Kazan song rather than merely bawling it. Konstantin Pluzhnikov makes Shuisky move from the rather sinister force confronting Boris in the Terem to a more oily complacency in the Death scene: many Shuiskys make less of the part. Evgeny Nikitin is a creepy, fanatical Rangoni, Vassily Gerello a Shchelkalov of hypocritical elegance, Evgeny Akimov a sad-toned Simpleton. Gergiev directs strong, incisive performances, accompanying sympathetically and controlling the marvellous crowd scenes well.
However, it's a pity that he allows fierce whistles to drown the speeding violins opening the Kromy Forest scene (the music can be heard only when it returns), and he hasn't been given sufficient clarity of recording with the chorus.
The words are often obscure, even with the boyars in the Death scene, and far too much is lost in the crowd exchanges. This is regrettable for a work that, in either incarnation, draws so much on realistic detail of articulation.
Nevertheless, these five discs form a fascinating set, one no admirer of this extraordinary creative achievement can afford to ignore.
Classical | Discography | FLAC / APE
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