Prom 29 - 6.08.17: Mussorgsky – Khovanshchina

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

18:00 Sunday 6 August 2017
Royal Albert Hall

Modest Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina (orch. Dmitry Shostakovich) (190 mins)
(concert performance; sung in Russian)

Ivan Khovansky ..... Ante Jerkunica (bass)
Andrey Khovansky ..... Christopher Ventris (tenor)
Golitsin .....Vsevolod Grivnov (tenor)
Marfa ..... Elena Maximova (mezzo-soprano)
Dosifey ..... Ain Anger (bass)
Shaklovity ..... Georg Gagnidze (bass)
Susanna ..... Jennifer Rhys-Davies (soprano)
Scribe ..... Norbert Ernst (tenor)
Emma ..... Anush Hovhannisyan (soprano)
Kuzka ..... Colin Judson (tenor)
BBC Singers
Slovak Philharmonic Choir
Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School Schola Cantorum
Tiffin Boys' Choir
Paul Weigold (asst.conductor)
Paul Curran (director)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Semyon Bychkov (conductor)

Shot through with folk melodies, Mussorgsky's 'national music drama' Khovanshchina weaves a richly coloured operatic tapestry in which Russia herself is the heroine. Semyon Bychkov conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestras and an exciting cast, including Russian mezzo-soprano Elena Maximova.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khovanshchina#Instrumentation

I look forward to appreciating the orchestration.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I look forward to appreciating the orchestration.

So do I - it's a work that was intended for voices and orchestra, after all. DSCH did a pretty good job of this unfinished masterpiece by the greatest Russian composer of the 19th Century - but I wish that the complete Ravel/Stravinsky edition would turn up one day. Still, thank all the gods that the Rimsky travesty has been given its marching orders.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

It's just occurred to me that I haven't heard a Live performance/broadcast of this since the televised production shown on BBC2 a quarter of a century or so ago!

I wish Opera North would do one of their Town Hall stagings of this and Boris sometime soon. (Worms right back at ya, Alpie!)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I wish Opera North would do one of their Town Hall stagings of this and Boris sometime soon. (Worms right back at ya, Alpie!)

I always have to take my asthma inhaler to that dusty establishment.

[BBMmk2]

What a great way to spend an evening. I dop notknow this opera. So with the artists involved, should be quite an enthralling time well spent!

[Richard Tarleton]

So do I - it's a work that was intended for voices and orchestra, after all. DSCH did a pretty good job of this unfinished masterpiece by the greatest Russian composer of the 19th Century - but I wish that the complete Ravel/Stravinsky edition would turn up one day. Still, thank all the gods that the Rimsky travesty has been given its marching orders.

The Kirov (as they still were) brought this to London in 2000 in a lavish, typically OTT-ly Russian production first seen in 1960 - DSCH orchestration. A great evening, tho' I confess I haven't listened to the opera since, so am looking forward to hearing this.

Surikov's famous 1881 painting of The Morning of the Execution of the Streltsy in 1698:-

[bluestateprommer]

Given my total unfamiliarity with this opera, from hearing Act I, so far, so good - quite good. 1st interval feature on now (informative, worth a re-listen).

If anyone needs an online libretto (not word for word, but reasonably close to be able to follow the plot): http://elnitsky.com/khovanschina.html

[Bryn]

Damn it! Just lost my Internet connection for several minutes. Now I will have to rely on the iPlayer Listen Again to hear the end of tonight's Prom.

[mopsus]

WNO are reviving their production this autumn (performances in Llandudno, Cardiff and Birmingham).

[edashtav]

This performance of Shostakovich's realisation of Mussorgsky's unfinished masterpiece "Khovanshchina" was outstandingly successful. I sensed that no expense had been spared from a hugely reinforced BBC. SO based supported on a core of 70 string players to a fine set of choirs with the wonderful Slovak Philharmonic Choir at the helm. It was a tribute to the esteem in which Semyon Bychkov is rightly held: he is the BBC's go to conductor when it comes to big beasts of Russian and Soviet music: my appreciation of Tchaikovsky's ground-breaking Winter Daydreams Symphony is down to a performance by BBC forces under SB primed by a lecture by the late, great cellist, Alexander Ivashkin. Shostakovich's score suits Mussorgsky's vision so well. Both composers believe in lean and spare: in opposition to the opulence of the arch-restorer and meddler Rimsky Korsakov. Russian folksong, both original and music based on its idioms and rhythms are at the heart of what Mussorgky was writing in this magnificent fresco. The whole opera can be reduced to Hymns of Praise about Mother Russia, however evil the characters that are portrayed, all are redeemed to a greater or lesser extent by their united belief in their country. (I could draw a parallel with Brexit Britain but enough has been penned and aired already about the 2017 Brexit Proms -will our Old Believers go faithfully to their fiery immolation?).

It's not the right time to unpick what was a great performance full of conviction and wonderful characterisation from soli, choirs and orchestra. This was a landmark Prom, not only for this season, but for years to come: the BBC invested faith and resources in Semyon Bychkov and it was richly rewarded. This is a Prom that I shall treasure for the rest of my life.

[Cockney Sparrow]

Edashtav, your post is unbearable to read. Anything done by Byshkov is likely going to be exceptional or very good. Only once have I been privileged to observe him in rehearsal, to my mind a great conductor and musician, not revered sufficiently here in the UK.
Reason for my anguish - every year there are one or two or three Proms I would dearly love to attend, and this was one of them. But family needs dictate a holiday, and this Prom was bang in the middle of them. I didn't even get to listen live on the FLAC stream - it was Edinburgh for the day yesterday, and last night we took a chance on a show about Nina Simone which had its good parts, but in the less good parts my mind inevitably turned to what I was missing.
I hope the FLAC stream is still going when they eventually repeat it (can't see it on the Afternoon on 3 schedules currently up on the iPlayer.....).
(But thanks for the descriptive review, Edashtav......).

[Ferretfancy]

I was 82 yesterday, and still standing in the Arena for a rather long evening! It was magnificent, and maybe my slight discomfort created an understanding of the sufferings of Mother Russia.

The huge chorus was terrific, and the sound of the orchestra matched it, especially the brass. It isn't possible to overpraise all the soloists performing at the front of the platform. There was very little stage action, but the mainly declamatory style meant that it was not necessary. The Arena was not full, and sadly some of the Prommers drifted away at both intervals, along with quite a number from the stalls and elsewhere. As Trump would tweet "Discourteous, sad

[edashtav]

I was 82 yesterday, and still standing in the Arena for a rather long evening! It was magnificent, and maybe my slight discomfort created an understanding of the sufferings of Mother Russia.

The huge chorus was terrific, and the sound of the orchestra matched it, especially the brass. It isn't possible to overpraise all the soloists performing at the front of the platform. There was very little stage action, but the mainly declamatory style meant that it was not necessary. The Arena was not full, and sadly some of the Prommers drifted away at both intervals, along with quite a number from the stalls and elsewhere. As Trump would tweet "Discourteous, sad

Full marks for your fortitude and longevity, ff, and congratulations on spending your birthday in such a fruitful fashion. I was the opposite of last night's drifters- I tuned in to sample but was quickly hooked by an evening full of revelations.