Prom 2: 16 Jul 2016 - Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:30 Saturday 16 Jul 2016
Royal Albert Hall

Modest Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov

concert performance; sung in Russian
(original version, 1869)

Boris Godunov.....Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone)
Fyodor....Benjamin Knight (treble)
Xenia....Vlada Borovko (soprano)
Shuisky....John Graham-Hall (tenor)
Shchelkalov.....Kostas Smoriginas (bass-baritone)
Pimen.....Ain Anger (bass)
Grigory (Pretender Dmitry).....David Butt Philip (tenor)
Varlaam.....Andrii Goniukov (bass)
Missail.....Harry Nicoll (tenor)
Innkeeper.....Rebecca de Pont Davies (mezzo-soprano)
Yurodivy (Holy Fool).....Andrew Tortise (tenor)
Royal Opera Chorus
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Sir Antonio Pappano conductor

Modest Mussorgsky created music of white-hot inspiration in his operatic masterpiece Boris Godunov, which tells of a Tsar hounded by fear, danger and intrigue. Bryn Terfel leads an illustrious cast.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07jlkdz

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Is this perhaps not the best time to express my admiration for the R-K revision?

[Darkbloom]

I'm always happy whenever a performance of BG comes around, but I do have my reservations about this one. I didn't hear the original run, but it's hard to imagine Terfel having the right weight and colour for Boris. It's a pity John Tom isn't around for Varlaam either. I was in the hall the last time the Proms did it, with Gergiev and the Maryinsky, and I don't think you could hope to match that for authenticity. Still, I'll try to keep an open mind and hope for great things.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I'm always happy whenever a performance of BG comes around,

but I do have my reservations about this one.

I didn't hear the original run, but it's hard to imagine Terfel having the right weight and colour for Boris.

It's a pity John Tom isn't around for Varlaam either.

(I would say that he might be around, but his voice isn't any more, very sadly)

Gergiev and the Maryinsky, and I don't think you could hope to match that for authenticity.

- I envy anyone who was in the Hall for that performance: I had to do with the broadcast, but the power of the performance came through even so. (I have it on a C120 cassette tape somewhere.)

Still, I'll try to keep an open mind and hope for great things.

[Darkbloom]

(I would say that he might be around, but his voice isn't any more, very sadly)

I think he's in a new Ades opera in Salzburg in a couple of weeks so I imagine it's just a schedule clash in this case. He seemed to get decent notices for Varlaam, and he's not someone that critics automatically fall over themselves to say nice things about, unlike Terfel, because his Marke got widely panned a couple of years ago. I think people have slightly taken him for granted over the years and forget just how good he was, as there's no celebrity cult surrounding him, he's just a down-to-earth guy who's good at his job. Yes, the voice has worn a lot, but he's in his seventies now of course. I thought it was interesting to hear him do the bass roles in the Met Ring a few years ago, and what he lacked in vocal freshness he made up for in attention to the text. But I'm a big fan and I find it hard to say anything negative about him.

[BBMmk2]

I'm wondering whether Terfel has the right voice for Slavic opera?

[Richard Tarleton]

Is this perhaps not the best time to express my admiration for the R-K revision?

I much prefer the 1869 version! I've heard it done twice on stage - semi-staged by the Kirov with Gergiev at Drury Lane, much the same cast as their Philips recording, and the WNO with, interestingly and very successfully, Willard White as Boris (stinker of a production but that's another story).....On the other hand I've sat through the over-inflated R-K version by the Bolshoi, with three intervals in an overheated Colisseum....I much prefer the compressed, white heat of the original. I like the dry comment in New Grove: "R-K's version still has its adherents...." Stravinsky accused R-K of "Meyerbeerization"....as Richard Taruskin says in Grove, "...Rimsky did conventionalise it in ways that might have facilitated its early acceptance, but now seem gratuitoulsly to soften the harsh and hopeless impression Mussorgsky calculated his opera to produce".

By the way the Xenia in the Kirov performance was a promising youngster called Anna Netrebko, wonder what happened to her?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I think people have slightly taken him for granted over the years and forget just how good he was,

Oh, yes - in the '80s and '90s one of the greatest singers around.

Yes, the voice has worn a lot, but he's in his seventies now of course.

Doesn't reach 70 until 22nd September - but you're right to point out that the voice he still has is remarkable for its age and the repertoire it has been master of.

But I'm a big fan and I find it hard to say anything negative about him.

I do feel mean-spirited in criticising one of the great voices of my lifetime - but I find it difficult to listen to how he sings these days.

[bluestateprommer]

Listening to Prom 2 on iPlayer just now, I worked from several disadvantages:

(a) No copy of the libretto at hand (+ I have no familiarity with Russian)
(b) Had never heard the original 1869 version before

But having said that, this Prom performance of the 1869 Boris Godunov was musically enthralling. IMHO, the real stars of the evening were the ROH Orchestra and Pappano, with whiplash ensemble and whip-smart playing. The long experience of the Covent Garden run really showed.

Perhaps Terfel doesn't have the Slavonic timbre for Tsar Boris, but then, the Covent Garden chorus doesn't have Slavonic timbre either (and they were terrific). On his own terms, BT did just fine as BG, with maybe one or two slightly "overacted" moments, but I accepted them as part of the overall characterization the part. Likewise, strong ensemble cast all around. Lucky Prommers who got to see a 1st-rate concert performance of this opera for £6, and a lucky rest of the RAH audience as well.

[Cockney Sparrow]

I very much agree. I was lucky to be in the stalls near the stage. Not a dark heavy voice for Boris but yes Terfel made his performance a real success and acted with total conviction and commitment. Strong cast, great contributions from chorus and orchestra. Pappano - we are so lucky to have him at Covent Garden.

Adding - in a PS:
I do enjoy concert performances, particularly if you can get up close the stage as is possible in the RAH stalls. A delight to see the orchestra out of the pit, and to appreciate the chorus - a very solid line of second basses, eloquent firsts, an eloquent unified sound from the tenors and the women very fine. (And I'm not sure exactly where, but there was a moment where the chorus were singing absolutely can belto, which could easily be described as ugly. I'm thinking that was a specific direction arising from the context - I'll be interested to find it again** on iPlayer). Not sure how Balsadonna is regarded as a chorus director, but his chorus and extras are delivering excellent performances - this must have been his last appearance as chorus director before he moves on.

Although I didn't feel there were any weakness in the cast, I was particularly taken with Ain Anger (Estonian) as Pimen - the voice, expression of words and his acting or presence in long monologues. (As was the audience as he got a lot of vocal appreciation as well as applause at the end).

(**I wasn't following the libretto but dipped in on occasion to get the sense of what was being said - but, a plus point, the text was legible to my imperfect eyes in the subdued light in the hall ! That must be a conscious decision - in this age the default position on printing seems to be small and faint - looks prettier, saves on ink etc, never a thought to those with less than perfect vision).

One final point - in the programme Pappano makes an interesting point - he feels like he is conducting a play, from the integration of words and music, but the piece feels more operatic as it progresses, as the composer speaks through the people, represented by the chorus.

[Nevilevelis]

I very much agree. I was lucky to be in the stalls near the stage. Not a dark heavy voice for Boris but yes Terfel made his performance a real success and acted with total conviction and commitment. Strong cast, great contributions from chorus and orchestra. Pappano - we are so lucky to have him at Covent Garden.

Adding - in a PS:
I do enjoy concert performances, particularly if you can get up close the stage as is possible in the RAH stalls. A delight to see the orchestra out of the pit, and to appreciate the chorus - a very solid line of second basses, eloquent firsts, an eloquent unified sound from the tenors and the women very fine. (And I'm not sure exactly where, but there was a moment where the chorus were singing absolutely can belto, which could easily be described as ugly. I'm thinking that was a specific direction arising from the context - I'll be interested to find it again** on iPlayer). Not sure how Balsadonna is regarded as a chorus director, but his chorus and extras are delivering excellent performances - this must have been his last appearance as chorus director before he moves on.

Although I didn't feel there were any weakness in the cast, I was particularly taken with Ain Anger (Estonian) as Pimen - the voice, expression of words and his acting or presence in long monologues. (As was the audience as he got a lot of vocal appreciation as well as applause at the end).

(**I wasn't following the libretto but dipped in on occasion to get the sense of what was being said - but, a plus point, the text was legible to my imperfect eyes in the subdued light in the hall ! That must be a conscious decision - in this age the default position on printing seems to be small and faint - looks prettier, saves on ink etc, never a thought to those with less than perfect vision).

One final point - in the programme Pappano makes an interesting point - he feels like he is conducting a play, from the integration of words and music, but the piece feels more operatic as it progresses, as the composer speaks through the people, represented by the chorus.

Thank you for the compliments! We hadn't sung it for over four months, so it was somewhat of a shock to system, however enjoyable AND moving to sing it again!

Renato B. is very much liked and will be missed.

Ain Ager is singing the title role when the Deutsche Oper, Berlin do the same production next season. He certainly is the real thing!

NVV.

[Darkbloom]

I heard this on the radio and was disappointed. I didn't feel the performance had any direction to it and it felt like a loose connection of scenes. Which, in a sense, it is, of course, but the better performances manage to impose a coherence on them that this lacked. Terfel has a much wider vibrato than is normally associated with 'great' singers, and also a worrying tendency to shout rather than sing. His Boris sounded learned rather than absorbed and I wonder whether there isn't a case for singing the role in English when the title role is taken by a non-Slav - however conscientious the singer is, it still sounds unidiomatic by comparison. Pappano sounded in a hurry and didn't allow the music to breathe, and it was the least moving Boris I can remember hearing. Best of the singers for me was the Varlaam, and his big scene was the one time I felt that cast and orchestra were totally switched on. I don't know whether they were having an off-night, or standards are slipping, but I felt the chorus was far too billowy, particularly the women. I thought I was listening to a Met relay at times, and that's not a compliment. They said the chorus master was off to pursue another interests so perhaps he's taken his eye off the ball these days. The whole thing was by no means bad, but when you listen to Boris Godunov you expect something extra, and this was too routine to remain very long in the memory.

[edashtav]

I don't know whether they were having an off-night, or standards are slipping, but I felt the chorus was far too billowy, particularly the women. ..

Many thanks for your colourful and opinionated crit, Darkbloom, which made many things clear. I'm fascinated by your choice of billowy to describe the chorus, being uncertain whether it's in praise of undulating cresc. / dims or evokes the women's voluminous dresses, or a term of criticism yet to enter my out-dated vocabulary. Never mind the meaning, the word is great to read out loud as it fills the mouth in a "billowy" manner.

[Darkbloom]

Many thanks for your colourful and opinionated crit, Darkbloom, which made many things clear. I'm fascinated by your choice of billowy to describe the chorus, being uncertain whether it's in praise of undulating cresc. / dims or evokes the women's voluminous dresses, or a term of criticism yet to enter my out-dated vocabulary. Never mind the meaning, the word is great to read out loud as it fills the mouth in a "billowy" manner.

Your sarcasm has been duly noted. I shall respond in due course and without warning. Like a leopard. If you want an explanation, in all seriousness it sounded like they were standing on the deck of a ship in the middle of a gale. The ROH chorus are usually excellent, so it was a surprise to hear them performing well below their usual standard. That gusty squalling is fine for The Flying Dutchman, less so for Boris Godunov I know you don't want a manicured English sound if you are supposed to be the Russian peasantry but it was far too rough and, frankly, sloppy. I don't know how it came across in the hall but that's how it sounded on the radio.

[edashtav]

Your sarcasm has been duly noted. I shall respond in due course and without warning. Like a leopard. If you want an explanation, in all seriousness it sounded like they were standing on the deck of a ship in the middle of a gale. The ROH chorus are usually excellent, so it was a surprise to hear them performing well below their usual standard. That gusty squalling is fine for The Flying Dutchman, less so for Boris Godunov I know you don't want a manicured English sound if you are supposed to be the Russian peasantry but it was far too rough and, frankly, sloppy. I don't know how it came across in the hall but that's how it sounded on the radio.

An exceptional response, darkbloom. Full bore?