Boris Godunow (opera)
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Boris Godunov |
| Original title: | Борис Годунов |
Boris Godunov's death, scene from the 1874 world premiere production |
|
| Shape: | Opera in four acts with prologue |
| Original language: | Russian |
| Music: | Modest Mussorgsky |
| Libretto : | Modest Mussorgsky |
| Literary source: | Boris Godunow by Alexander Pushkin and History of the Russian Empire by Nikolai Karamsin |
| Premiere: | January 27th jul. / February 8, 1874 greg. |
| Place of premiere: | Mariinsky Theater , Saint Petersburg |
| Playing time: | approx. 3 ¼ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | The action takes place in Russia and Poland between 1598 and 1605. |
| people | |
|
|
Boris Godunow is an opera (called "musical folk drama" by the composer) in four acts with a prologue by Modest Mussorgsky based on motifs from the Pushkin drama of the same name , the original version of which was completed in 1870. The historical person Boris Godunov was the Russian tsar from 1598 to 1605 and is considered a usurper in the monarchist historical perspective , who was, however, elected by the people's assembly at the time, Semskij Sobor .
Origin and performance history
The composer wrote the libretto himself based on the drama Boris Godunow by Alexander Pushkin . Mussorgsky's further sources are the history of the Russian Empire by Nikolai Karamsin (1816–1829), which had already served Pushkin as the basis for his Dramatic Chronicle (1825), as well as Ivan Chudjakov's Medieval Russia (1867).
A first version ("original version") was created between 1868 and 1870. The second, more well-known version is from 1872. The original version was published by P. Lamm in 1928 as a printed sheet music. The lack of a major female role, however, threatened to prevent the distribution of this original version, so that with the introduction of the Marina, additional images were also composed. This version from 1872 was published on January 27th July. / February 8, 1874 greg. premiered in the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg (cast: Warlaam - Afanasajewitsch Petrow; Marina - Julia F. Platonova). The production was repeated 25 times before it was canceled for political reasons. Under Eduard Naprawnik (Russian conductor and composer, 1839-1916), the "Schenkenbild" and the two "Polen-Bilder", which Mussorgsky had composed the year before, were performed on February 17, 1873 at the St. Petersburg Court Opera. On his death in 1881, Mussorgsky left behind several scenes that were not yet orchestrated.
Further performances:
- December 16, Jul. / December 28, 1888 greg. in Moscow, Bolshoi
- November 16, Jul. / November 28, 1896 greg. in St. Petersburg, Great Hall of the Conservatory (first arrangement by Nikolai Rimski-Korsakow )
- December 7th jul. / December 19, 1898 greg. in Moscow, opera company Mamontow (with Fyodor Iwanowitsch Chalyapin )
- May 19, 1908 in Paris, Grand Opéra (further, second arrangement by Rimsky-Korsakov)
- 23 October 1913 German premiere in Breslau (German text version by M. Lippold)
- March 5, 1929 in Moscow, KS Stanislavski State Opera Theater (version from 1869)
- January 22, 1936 German premiere of the original version in Hamburg (German text version H. Möller)
- French premiere in 1908 (Paris, Grand Opéra), Italian premiere in 1909 (Milan, Scala ) - both in the version by Rimsky-Korsakov
- November 4, 1959 in Leningrad, Kirov Theater (version by Dmitri Shostakovich with instrumentation of all parts left by Musorgsky)
Instrumentation, orchestra and score
orchestra
Rimsky-Korsakov version
3 flutes (3rd also small flute), 2 oboes (2nd also English horn), 3 clarinets (3rd also bass clarinet), 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets (3rd = low trumpet in F, tromba alta ), 3 trombones, bass tuba, timpani, percussion, bells, harp, piano, strings
Incidental music: trumpet, bells, tam-tam
Version Shostakovich
3 flutes (3 also small flute), 2 oboes, English horn, 3 clarinets (3rd also Eb clarinet), bass clarinet, 3 bassoons (3rd also contrabassoon), 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, bass tuba, timpani, Drums, bells, glockenspiel, harp, piano, celesta, strings
Incidental music: 4 trumpets, 2 cornets à pistons, 2 horns (alto horns in E flat of military music), 2 tenor horns, 2 baritone horns, 2 bass voices, balalaika and domra ad lib.
score
Composed sequence of scenes
Publishers
- Version 1869 and 1872/74 Oxford University Press, London (edited by David Lloyd-Jones)
- Arrangements by Rimski-Korsakow Muzgiz, Moscow; Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden
- Arrangement by Shostakovich: Sikorski Musikverlage, Hamburg
content
prolog
First picture
The work begins with a four and a half measure melody repeated four times in the form of a simple Russian folk tune. With a seventh it encompasses a relatively small range and appears somewhat depressed due to its narrow intervals (the largest interval is a fourth) and the minor character. It is presented first in unison by bassoon and English horn, then by clarinet and horn with a pizzicato string accompaniment in eighths and finally in bass in the fifth to sixteenth-note figures of the oboe. With the last repetition, the octaved and fully orchestrated melody now in the bass gains an increasingly threatening character.
Seven measures lead to the beginning of the plot. Here, the following first appears in research, termed the “motive of oppression / violence” and which occurs repeatedly in the course of the work.
In the form of a recitative accompanied by the strings in tremolo vibrato , Vogt Nikitsch compels the crowd in front of the monastery to sing petitions in order to persuade the indecisive Boris to accept the tsar's crown. As so often in the factory, the people begin with a not entirely voluntary praise for the future tsar. Nikitsch's request is answered by a choir in the style of Russian folk music, alternating in unison and four-part, including interjections by individual people from the people. Through the use of church modes , the increased use of chromatics and the realistic representation of the people and their reactions, the choir falls outside the contemporary framework of foreign operas that were popular in Russia at the time (e.g. Giuseppe Verdi's ), but also the romanticism of Tchaikovsky or Rubinstein and already refers to later developments such as naturalism or verism . In a melodious recitative, the Duma secretary , Shchelkalov, again urges the crowd to support Boris and pray for him. He is answered by a soft “choir of pilgrims”, primarily orchestrated with strings, which then increases to a fully orchestrated hymn . The government-oriented understanding of the state required of the people is reflected in the following excerpt:
“Kick the dragon in two, which harassed us wildly with a thousand poisonous claws. That dragon that is called: Rebellion and revolting spirit. Announce it to believing Christianity, you for eternal salvation! "
Second picture
Boris pretends to be humble to avoid the impression that he himself is striving for the crown. Finally, he accepts and, to the cheering of the people, enters the cathedral to pray at the tombs of the tsars. He promises to rule justly.
first act
First picture
In the Chudov Monastery, the monk Pimen sits over the Chronicle of Russia that he is writing. He asks young Grigory to complete the last chapter for him because he feels too tired and weak himself. This last chapter will deal with the events of the young tsarevich, who was murdered at the instigation of Boris Godunov. He would now be as old as the monk Grigory. He is very impressed by the story.
Second picture
In an inn on the border with Lithuania Grigorij stops together with two runaway monks whom he has joined. He tries to find out the way across the border from the landlady. The emerging guard shows a wanted poster in which they are looking for the monk who escaped from the Moscow monastery. However, since the soldier cannot read, Grigory is given the opportunity to cast suspicion on one of his two companions. However, he deciphered the true details of the profile and Grigory saved himself with a jump out of the window.
Second act
First picture
Hall in the Kremlin. Boris' daughter, Xenia, mourns her deceased fiancé. Her brother studies the map of the great Russian empire. Nurse and Feodor try to cheer Xenia with a lively song. After the father enters, he points out the difficult office of ruler to his son Feodor. The family idyll is dissolved by the appearance of Shuisky, whom Boris suspects of conspiratorial activity. Shuisky reports of a usurper who pretends to be the rightful Tsar Dmitri in Poland and has found strong supporters. Shuisky has to assure Boris through the insecure question that the tsarevich found certain death because he himself saw his body in the cathedral of Uglich. Boris remains in the room, tormented by remorse. The vision of the murdered boy appears to him and he collapses.
Third act
First picture
In the Castle of Sandomir in Poland, Marina Mnicek , the selfish daughter of the Voivoden von Sandomir, dreams of moving into Moscow as the future Tsarina. She wants to take advantage of the strange adventurer who pretends to be Tsarevich Dmitri . The Jesuit Rangoni supports Marina in this request, since the high goal of the church would be achieved by a marriage of the Catholic with Dmitrij.
Second picture
Rangoni brings the news of Marina's love for him to Dmitri, who is waiting in the palace garden, and asks the tsarevich to be allowed to accompany him as his advisor. When Marina, swarmed by a bunch of magnates, approaches Dmitri, he feels jealousy. Marina, who soon returns alone, assures him, however, that she wants to belong to him if he can get her the tsar's crown.
Fourth act
First picture
In the Kremlin, the boyars are discussing measures against the usurper. Shuisky reports on the poor health of the tsar, who, however, appears at the council meeting - a shadow of himself. Pimen enters and reports on the miracle of the blind man to whom the murdered boy appeared in Uglich Cathedral and who then regained his sight. Boris Godunov then collapses, demands the penitent's robe, hands over the crown to his son Feodor, who has been summoned, and dies.
Second picture
Forest near Kromy. The excited crowd dragged the boyar Khrushchev over to mock him. An imbecile ( godly fool ) is teased and robbed by boys. The two runaway monks from the tavern appear and sing to set the mood for Tsarevich Dmitri. Two Jesuits join them, but arouse the displeasure of the crowd so that Dmitri has to step in to prevent them from being lynched. The usurper promises assistance to all those persecuted by Boris Godunov. The crowd bursts into jubilation, only the idiot (fool) complains: "Woe to you, you poor people!"
music
“Next to Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde , hardly any other work has had such a pioneering and stimulating effect on the development of opera as Boris Godunow . Mussorgsky has a musical as well as a dramatic talent. Basically it is rooted in the Russian folk tune with its manifold connections to Asian music and its harmony. But this does not fully explain the secret of its tonal language and its fascinating effect. Something of its own is added which eludes purely intellectual interpretation. The range of this music, which ranges from the naive manner of children to the wildest passion, from the coarse humor to the chaste internalization, from the demonic to the heavenly transfiguration, and finds the most natural and appropriate expression for everything is astonishing "
Individual evidence
- ^ Kurt Pahlen : Modest Mussorgskij - Boris Godunov. Atlantis Musikbuchverlag, 1997, p. 10
- ^ Caryl Emerson, Robert Oldani: Modest Musorgsky and Boris Godunov: Myths, Realities, Reconsiderations. Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 232
- ^ Supplement of the Stuttgart State Opera for the performance of Boris Godunow. 1996/97 season, issue 33, page 9
- ^ Kurt Pahlen : Modest Mussorgskij - Boris Godunov. Atlantis Musikbuch-Verlag, 1997, p. 12 ff.
- ^ Kurt Pahlen : Modest Mussorgskij - Boris Godunov. Atlantis Musikbuch-Verlag, 1997, p. 14
literature
- Rolf Fath: Reclam's opera guide . Stuttgart 2002 ISBN 3-15-010511-0 .
- David Lloyd-Jones: On the Fate of the Boris Composition . In: Heinz-Klaus Metzger , Rainer Riehn (eds.): Modest Musorgskij - aspects of the opera work ( music concepts 21). edition text + kritik , Munich 1981, ISBN 3-88377-093-0 , pp. 45–68.
- Clemens Wolthens: Opera and Operetta Vienna, Tosa 1967.
Web links
- Boris Godunow : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Plot and libretto from de at Opera-Guide target page due to URL change currently not available