Kent Nagano, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra – Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov (1869 Version) [Live] (2019) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Kent Nagano, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra – Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov (1869 Version) [Live] (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:04:56 minutes | 2,02 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © BIS

In the 19th Century, Russian music was still dominated the Italian and French repertoires. But young composers were taking things in a new direction. In the face of westernisation, they were working to recreate an unbroken Russian thread, with folk melodies centre stage. In this vein, Modest Mussorgski created a synthesis of centuries-old Russian folk music and the musical language of Romanticism. His opera Boris Godunov exemplified this approach: every character has their own identifying theme, in the manner of the Wagnerian leitmotif, and the discourse exploits popular Russian idiom. The writing and the harmony have an impressive aloofness, which immediately stands out as Russian. The orchestration – and in particular the use of clocks in the second part of the prologue, or the coronation scene – corroborates this picture. Finally – and what is particularly salient in this version – is the vocality of this great score, which is eminently lyrical and follows the prosody of the language. The work’s choral character – Varlaam’s song at the tavern, for example, with choirs that chant the score – lends it a grandiose realism which never falls into the picturesque.

Kent Nagano and the Gothenburg symphonic orchestra selected the original version of Boris Godunov, with a libretto that makes no concessions to generic convention – divided into seven tableaux. It was this uncompromising character that saw it so long censored, and reorchestrated by Rimski-Korsakov. The latter re-working made it possible for Boris to be performed, and, once it made it onto the lyrical stage, to win notoriety – and ultimately to be played today, in its original 1869 version by the young Alexander Tsymbaluk, with a touch of sadness, but perhaps not quite enough madness. Listeners will be delighted too by Mika Kares’s excellent Pimen. – Elsa Siffert

Tracklist:

CD1
1. Oleg Budaratskiy;Anton Ljungqvist – Boris Godunov, Pt. 1 Scene 1 (1869 Version): What’s Up With You? [Live]
2. Oleg Budaratskiy – Boris Godunov, Pt. 1 Scene 1 (1869 Version): For Whom Do You Desert Us? [Live]
3. Vasily Ladyuk – Boris Godunov, Pt. 1 Scene 1 (1869 Version): True-Believers! The Boyar Is Steadfast [Live]
4. Oleg Budaratskiy;Anton Ljungqvist – Boris Godunov, Pt. 1 Scene 1 (1869 Version): Glory to Thee, Almighty Creator [Live]
5. Maxim Paster – Boris Godunov, Pt. 1 Scene 2 (1869 Version): Long Live Tsar Boris! [Live]
6. Alexander Tsymbalyuk – Boris Godunov, Pt. 1 Scene 2 (1869 Version): My Soul Is Grieving [Live]
7. Göteborg Opera Chorus – Boris Godunov, Pt. 1 Scene 2 (1869 Version): Glory! Glory! Glory! [Live]
8. Mika Kares – Boris Godunov, Pt. 2 Scene 1 (1869 Version): One More, One Final Tale [Live]
9. Sergei Skorokhodov;Mika Kares – Boris Godunov, Pt. 2 Scene 1 (1869 Version): That Dream Once More! [Live]
10. Sergei Skorokhodov;Mika Kares – Boris Godunov, Pt. 2 Scene 1 (1869 Version): You Have Been Awake and Writing All Night [Live]
11. Sergei Skorokhodov;Mika Kares – Boris Godunov, Pt. 2 Scene 1 (1869 Version): Good Father, I Have Often Wanted [Live]
12. Sergei Skorokhodov;Mika Kares – Boris Godunov, Pt. 2 Scene 1 (1869 Version): It’s Ringing for Matins [Live]
13. Okka von der Damerau;Boris Stepanov;Alexey Tikhomirov;Sergei Skorokhodov – Boris Godunov, Pt. 2 Scene 2 (1869 Version): What Can I Offer You, Reverend Fathers? [Live]
14. Alexey Tikhomirov – Boris Godunov, Pt. 2 Scene 2 (1869 Version): Once Upon a Time in the City of Kazan [Live]
15. Okka von der Damerau;Boris Stepanov;Alexey Tikhomirov;Sergei Skorokhodov – Boris Godunov, Pt. 2 Scene 2 (1869 Version): Why Aren’t You Singing? [Live]
16. Okka von der Damerau;Oleg Budaratskiy;Boris Stepanov;Alexey Tikhomirov;Sergei Skorokhodov – Boris Godunov, Pt. 2 Scene 2 (1869 Version): He Rides On [Live]
17. Sergei Skorokhodov;Oleg Budaratskiy;Alexey Tikhomirov;Boris Stepanov – Boris Godunov, Pt. 2 Scene 2 (1869 Version): I Can Read [Live]

CD2
1. Hanna Husáhr;Johanna Rudström – Boris Godunov, Pt. 3 (1869 Version): My Beloved Bridegroom [Live]
2. Alexander Tsymbalyuk;Margarita Nekrasova;Hanna Husáhr;Johanna Rudström – Boris Godunov, Pt. 3 (1869 Version): Enough, My Tsarevna [Live]
3. Alexander Tsymbalyuk – Boris Godunov, Pt. 3 (1869 Version): I’ve Achieved the Highest Power [Live]
4. Alexander Tsymbalyuk;Maxim Paster;Johanna Rudström;Boris Stepanov – Boris Godunov, Pt. 3 (1869 Version): What Do You Want? [Live]
5. Alexander Tsymbalyuk;Maxim Paster – Boris Godunov, Pt. 3 (1869 Version): But No! Wait, Wait a Moment [Live]
6. Alexander Tsymbalyuk;Maxim Paster – Boris Godunov, Pt. 3 (1869 Version): Death Does Not Frighten Me [Live]
7. Anton Ljungqvist – Boris Godunov, Pt. 4 Scene 1 (1869 Version): Is the Mass Over? [Live]
8. Boris Stepanov – Boris Godunov, Pt. 4 Scene 1 (1869 Version): Trrrr… Tin Hat [Live]
9. Alexander Tsymbalyuk;Boris Stepanov;Maxim Paster – Boris Godunov, Pt. 4 Scene 1 (1869 Version): Why Is He Crying? [Live]
10. Vasily Ladyuk – Boris Godunov, Pt. 4 Scene 2 (1869 Version): Noble Boyars! [Live]
11. Göteborg Opera Chorus – Boris Godunov, Pt. 4 Scene 2 (1869 Version): Well Then, Let Us Now Vote [Live]
12. Maxim Paster – Boris Godunov, Pt. 4 Scene 2 (1869 Version): A Pity That Prince Shuisky Is Not Here [Live]
13. Alexander Tsymbalyuk;Vasily Ladyuk;Maxim Paster – Boris Godunov, Pt. 4 Scene 2 (1869 Version): Begone! Begone! [Live]
14. Alexander Tsymbalyuk;Mika Kares – Boris Godunov, Pt. 4 Scene 2 (1869 Version): A Humble Monk [Live]
15. Alexander Tsymbalyuk;Mika Kares – Boris Godunov, Pt. 4 Scene 2 (1869 Version): Once, Deep in Sleep [Live]
16. Alexander Tsymbalyuk – Boris Godunov, Pt. 4 Scene 2 (1869 Version): Leave Us… Go Away, Everyone! [Live]
17. Alexander Tsymbalyuk;Johanna Rudström – Boris Godunov, Pt. 4 Scene 2 (1869 Version): O Lord! Lord! Look Down [Live]