Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina (Boder)

Introduction

A live performance of Mussorgsky's political drama, filmed over two nights in May 2007.

One of the difficulties with this work is that the performing edition was not completed by the composer (although the vocal score appears to have been done and dusted), and so the first performance wasn't until after Mussorgsky died, and then it had been orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov. After that, Stravinsky, Ravel and Shostakovitch all had a go at producing their own versions. This performances uses much of the Shostakovitch, some Stravinsky, and the final scene by Guerassim Voronkov.

Another difficulty is laid out in the almost apologetic notes by the director, Stein Winge, within the accompanying booklet. The issue revolves around Mussorgsky's alcoholism and the fact that the text really isn't as good as that gleaned from Puskin's tale of Boris Godunov. Telling quotes state that "one misses the force of a Puskin"; "the libretto proves to be very weak"; "Compared with the music, however, the text fails. Everything stagnates; it is as though the characters are just emptily calling out"…

Ah well, at least Winge cheers us up by saying that "Things will never be better, history repeats itself and the common people are left in misery".

Isn't it always the case?





The plot centres around political machinations at the time of the arrival of Peter the Great into the Russian consciousness, and concerns the rivalries between various princes, their loves, and the religious fervour connected to the 'Old Believers', all of whom believe they are the saviours of the Motherland. Again, isn't it always the case?

Visual

Video quality is very good, although again, you need to put up with some unnecessary camera wobble and slight focus problems from this theatre.

Lighting is caught very well, and the (apparently) candle-lit final scene is very well rendered.

Audio

I chose the DTS option (because I could) and was very impressed with the clarity of detail. Some rather heavy orchestration threatens to drown out the stage, but everything is well-balanced. Too much detail isn't always a good thing though, as we hear everything from the pit, warts and all, and foot-falls on the stage, espeically towards the beginning, are too obvious - perhaps I got used to it as the opera went on, as I didn't notice to many extra bangs and crashes after this.

Extras

A little disappointing, considering the relative rarity of live performances of this work. A chat from Michael Boder (c. 7 mins) is all we get, shedding the tiniest bit of light on the production, before being cut off rather suddenly.

Subtitles come in various languages, but strangely, not Russian.

Overall

I watched this a couple of times before getting something down 'on paper' and am still not sure what to make of it. I'm fairly familiar with Godunov, and can understand the director's comparisons between that rather fine work, and this rather strange one.

Musically, there is little wrong, and the fact that there are no great and memorable arias is not particulcarly relevant as I've always considered Mussorgsky a bit of a 'modernist' and 'above that sort of thing'. The orchestations used are effective, and the cuts which have apparently been made don't appear to have had a detrimental effect (not that I would know too much about this unfortunately).

The plot, and certainly the libretto (the bizarre subtitles didn't help) is more problematic, being set in a time which isn't too familiar to those who aren't steeped in Russian history. Mussorgsky set a very 'talky' libretto to his music, and perhaps there is a bit too much going on, leaving little time for any particular character to take root. Perhaps this was the point though, as the upheaval of Russian society was so dramatic in this part of the seventeenth century, that only the major figures stood out - Peter the Great being the 'greatest', and he doesn't actually appear.



The performances are helped by the fact that much of the cast are Russian. Elena Zaremba (Marfa) is particularly fine, and has incredible range and power, well-suited to her role. Vladimir Vaneev (Dosifei) is also excellent, bringing the character of what we would nowadays see as a fundamentalist religious leader to life. It was also great to see Graham Clark singing the role of the scribe with humour and pathos, and not dressed up as the usual Wagnerian dwarf I'm used to when he's on stage.

Nikolai Putilin (Shaklovity) sounds strained and hoarse however, despite the passion he obviously feels for this role.

This is also an opera in which the chorus plays a vital role. In the most part, they are ok, but you are left wondering whether a full-blooded Russian chorus would have done that much more, or to put it another way, have let rip in all the right places.

Stein Winge has correctly noted that the politics and warfare which surround this period of Russian history have not changed a huge amount since then, and his production updates us to a twentieth century Russia (in costume and design, at least) in which many of the same battles took place. Whether an audience needs to be reminded that human nature never really changes is debatable, but he has designed a brutal and uncompromising vision which we see in the media every day, from many different parts of the world, and if this production of a great, but highly-flawed opera helps us to remember that "Things will never be better, history repeats itself and the common people are left in misery", then perhaps it's not such a bad thing.

Not one to make you feel happy about life, but a worthwhile investigation.