page_title: Boris Godunov (opera)
section_title: Performance history
hierarchical_section_title: Boris Godunov (opera) / History / Performance history
caption_attribution_description: English: The Novodevichy Scene from the opera Boris Godunov, made by Vladimir Dmitriev for the 1928 production of the composer's 1869 Version in Leningrad.
context_page_description: Boris Godunov is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky. 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 during the Time of Troubles, and his nemesis, the False Dmitriy. The Russian-language libretto was written by the composer, and is based on the 1825 drama Boris Godunov by Aleksandr Pushkin, and, in the Revised Version of 1872, on Nikolay Karamzin's History of the Russian State.
  Among major operas, Boris Godunov shares with Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlos the distinction of having an extremely complex creative history, as well as a great 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.
  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, or conflation of the original and revised versions.
context_section_description: 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 Miliy 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), Vasiliy Vasilyev (or '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'. Matvey Shishkov's design for the last scene of Pushkin's drama, 'The House of Boris' (see illustration, right), was substituted for this hybrid of the Novodevichiy and Coronation scenes. 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 (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): 1) Cuts made to shorten what is perceived as an overlong work; 2) 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); and 3) 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 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 Pe
caption: Novodevichiy Scene. Design by Vladimir Dmitriev (1928)
exif: {}