Back to browse
0% Critic Match
Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina
“Opera in 5 Acts”
0.0 / 10• 2012• 2h 52m•NR• Russian
Music
Storyline
Kent Nagano superbly masters the challenges presented by this score, shapes the dynamics with subtle intensity, and casts the score in a mellow glow. As Marfa, the spurned lover of Ivan Khovansky‘s son Andrei, Doris Soffel unfolds such a rich palette of sonorities, from the pathos of the lower ranges to shaded discant heights, that “one is tempted to speak of a Russian mezzo”. The final chorus, which Mussorgsky did not compose, is played in the orchestrally transparent version of Igor Stravinsky – the third great Russian composer who contributed to making “Khovanshchina“ a timeless, gripping stage work. With his stripped-down sets and historicising costumes, director Dmitri Tcherniakov, one of the new voices of contemporary Russian theatre, builds a bridge to the political present. A lesson in history and music!
Cast & Crew
Paata Burchuladze
Ivan Khovansky
Lead
Klaus Florian Vogt
Andrei Khovansky
John Daszak
Golitsin
Valeri Alexejev
Shaklovity
Anatoli Kotscherga
Dosifey
Doris Soffel
Marfa
IR
Ilrich Reß
Scrivener
Camilla Nylund
Emma
What People Are Saying
0.0
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Dmitri Tcherniakov's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
3.0
“Every frame feels alive. Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”
