Historical Tragedy in Music and Vision 22 aprile

Historical Tragedy GIUSEPPE PENNISI visits Palermo for the critical edition of Musorgsky's 'Boris Godunov' Any staging of Modest Musorgsky's Boris Godunov entails a major issue: which edition to perform? Musorgsky himself wrote and composed two different operas based on Alexsander Pushkin's historical tragedy and on Nikolay Karamzin's historical work of the 'Years of troubles' in Russia. The first opera is a seven scene opéra dialogué (with some spoken parts, eg at the end of the coronation scene, and a lot of declamation) centered upon the rise and fall of Boris Godunov as Tsar of the whole of Russia: it opens with his acceptance of the throne and ends with his downfall and death whilst a pretender (to the throne) advances, helped by Polish armies; he is a young defrocked monk (Grigory) who pretends to be Dmitry, the son of Ivan the Terrible, and consequently the right Tsarevich, thought to have been killed in his childhood by Boris' retinues. The second opera is a much more extended affair: nine scenes -- Boris is on stage in only three of them -- with three main protagonists: the Tsar, the pretender and the Russian people. Of the six original scenes, one was deleted and the other five were radically altered. Also, whilst in the first Boris Musorgsky made great and frequent use of leitmotifs, in the second, recalling themes have a lesser role with an important exception: the pretender's leitmotiv is greatly expanded and refined to become central of the opera. Generally, the differences between the first and the second version are attributed to the management of the Imperial Theatres and their insistence on having a love scene and a female protagonist; both these are in Act III (often named 'the Polish Act' because it evolves in Poland). Most likely, Musorgsky was influenced by Verdi's Don Carlo as an approach to historical opera. Although he did not generally appreciate Italian opera and he did not like Verdi's style -- as he was thriving for truly Russian national opera -- Musorgsky was reportedly enthralled by a Don Carlo performance in St Petersburg. He was also taken by French grand-opéra, especially by Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots, according to some reviewers the model for the last scene in the forest. Alexei Tanovitski as Boris in Act I of Musorgsky's 'Boris Godunov' at Teatro Massimo di Palermo. Photo © 2012 Franco Lannino. Click on the image for higher resolution To make things even more complicated, Musorgsky's friends, even those who were closest to him, thought his orchestration was poor and particularly lacked harmony; after all, he was a self-taught bureaucrat. Thus Rimsky-Korsakov remodeled the original orchestral score, making it a gorgeous seventeenth century musical tapestry which conquered the Parisian audience in 1908. Later around 1930, in the USSR, Rimsky-Korsakov's version was replaced by an orchestration by Pavel Lamm and Boris Asaf'ev; this was considered close to Musorgsky's intentions because Lamm and Asaf'ev had worked on the original manuscript. In the 1950s, in Eastern Europe, the Lamm-Asaf'ev edition was practically retired in favor of a new orchestration by Dmitry Shostakovich -- much more dramatic than the previous versions. In the West, Rimsky-Korsakov's version was still going strong, but from 1960 at New York Metropolitan Opera House, a newer orchestral version (by Karol Rathhouse) was on stage. Anna Victorova as Marina and the ballet in Act III of Musorgsky's 'Boris Godunov' at Teatro Massimo di Palermo. Photo © 2012 Franco Lannino. Click on the image for higher resolution The situation changed in 1975 when British musicologist David Lloyd-Jones published a critical edition based on the original manuscript by Musorgsky, ie on Lamm-Asaf'ev, but with full reference to the other versions, all carefully specified in the notes. It is a rougher orchestration but much more powerful than anything previously heard. Metropolitan Opera immediately set a new production with Lloyd-Jones' critical edition. I was fortunate to experience it in 1976 in the USA. Gradually, the Lloyd-Jones version is being adopted on the world's stages. In Italy, it was heard in Florence and Venice, but with the interpolation of the scene (called the St Basil scene) that Musorgsky had deleted when he wrote and composed the second Boris. Mikhail Gubsky as Gregory/False Dmitri and Anna Victorova as Marina in Act III of Musorgsky's 'Boris Godunov' at Teatro Massimo di Palermo. Photo © 2012 Franco Lannino. Click on the image for higher resolution This longish introduction is essential because anytime one reviews the opera, it is essential to know which Boris we are talking about. For the first time in Italy, the Teatro Massimo of Palermo -- a rare institution which for six years has settled its accounts with a profit -- presents the full integral critical edition in a grandiose new staging co-produced with the Teatro Municipal of Santiago in Chile. This is a very important intercontinental undertaking which, I hope, other theaters will lease. Ferruccio Furlanetto as Boris in Act IV of Musorgsky's 'Boris Godunov' at Teatro Massimo di Palermo. Photo © 2012 Franco Lannino. Click on the image for higher resolution Dramaturgically, this means that the 'St Basil scene' is deleted, as Musorgsky intended and wrote to his friends. Even though in the twentieth century tradition (including on Abbado and Rostropovich's recordings) St Basil and the final Kromy forest scene were often performed side-by-side (by making some adaptation to the libretto and to the score), Musorgsky had transferred two sections from the former to the latter because he intended to stress that the leading theme was not the confrontation between the Tsar, the aristocrats and the populace, but between Boris and the people, viewed as the real driving force in history. Musically, this implies an orchestration that conveys the harsh and hopeless impression which Musorgsky had decided to convey. As indicated above, Verdi's Don Carlo might have influenced Musorgsky's second Boris; however, Don Carlo ends with a magnificent ambiguity and a far distant light at the end of long tunnel, whilst Boris has a desperate conclusion -- the pretender may become as cruel and as bloody a dictator as Godunov, and the Russian people are dammed to a thousand years of wars on their soil. The only one to understand this fully is a simpleton fool. At the bottom of the social ladder, he is the only one to possess a clear and prophetic lucidity. It is on this note of richly informative paradox that Musorgsky, who was himself a social misfit but a clairvoyant like Dostoievsky's Prince Mychin in The Idiot, brings the definitive version of his opera to a conclusion. On an engrossing diminuendo after much martial and ceremonial music. A scene from Act IV of Musorgsky's 'Boris Godunov' at Teatro Massimo di Palermo. Photo © 2012 Franco Lannino. Click on the image for higher resolution Any production of Boris is a major undertaking: nine scenes, often with open stage changes of sets, a double chorus, a children chorus and some eighteen soloists. Hugo de Ana, stage director as well as designer of the sets and the costumes, and the conductor George Pehlivanian worked hand-in-hand to provide a cohesive staging where dramaturgy and music are fully interconsistent. The close collaboration between stage and orchestral direction is also needed because in the critical edition of Boris the Shakespearean character of the epics is stronger than in other versions: like in Shakespeare's histories, the tragedy is intertwined with moments of comic relief (eg -- the tavern scene at the border with Lithuania in Act I) and with irony (eg the women's chorus in the final hopeless scene). The sets are simple and can be changed easily: revolving panels (showing the gold and silver of the Kremlin as well a harsh cell in a monastery, a checkpoint at the frontier and a dark thick forest) coupled with Russian orthodox icons. The costumes (based on Russian paintings) are grandiose and sumptuous. Great care was taken in the principals' acting and in the movements of the masses. In short, nine tableaux are divided into three parts. The first part encompasses the prologue, the first and the second acts -- ie Boris' rise to power and his twilight after the false Dmitry has emerged as a pretender and both foreign powers and the Russian aristocracy plan for the Tsar's downfall. It lasts ninety minutes but the frequent changes of scene (five) keep the action moving. The second part (forty minutes in two scenes) is the 'Polish Act'; in Poland, the pretender finds support (and love of the Princess) because the devious Papal Nuncio plans to conquer Russia and force the population to convert to the Catholic Church. The third part (forty-five minutes) is Boris' hallucination and death and the endless plight of wars in Russia. During the four hours (including intermissions), there is no fall in tension, mostly because of the close coordination between pit and stage. Conducting Boris is not especially hard, but it is difficult to keep the whole thing together. The final scene of Musorgsky's 'Boris Godunov' at Teatro Massimo di Palermo. Photo © 2012 Franco Lannino. Click on the image for higher resolution I attended the 24 March 2012 performance. Thus, I refer to the cast of that particular evening. Let's focus on the three protagonists: Boris, the pretender (Grigory/false Dmitry), and the people. Boris was Alexei Tanovitski, a comparatively young bass: a very tall and imposing figure with excellent acting abilities (especially in the hallucination scene) who could easily excel to acute and equally easily descend to deep grave tonalities. The pretender was Mikhail Gubsky; he looks like an attractive young man but acts convincingly (especially in the Polish Act and in the love scene with Marina, the mezzo Anna Victorova) and especially has a clear timbre, a generous volume and good phrasing. Gubsky reminds me of Nicolai Gedda in the same role in an old Radio France recording conducted by Issay Dobrowen (with Boris Christoff interpreting the Tsar, Pimen and Vaarlan). The people are the Teatro Massimo Chorus, strengthened with singers from the Krakow Radio Chorus. They are directed by Andrea Faidutti (and the children's chorus by Salvatore Punturo). The people also have a key role in providing Shakespeare's flairs to historical tragedy. They are a variety of social groups, often interacting with one another and with the principals and making Boris a real mosaic. There are too many other characters to be mentioned individually. Nonetheless, Marco Spotti as the monk Pimen, Jan Vacik as the devious Prince Shuysky, Igor Golovatenko as the Jesuit Papal Nuncio and Chiara Fracasso as the tavern keeper all deserve to stand out. Copyright © 22 April 2012 Giuseppe Pennisi, Rome, Italy MODEST MUSORGSKY BORIS GODUNOV RUSSIA PALERMO ITALY << M&V home Concert reviews The Barber of Seville >>