Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov / Gergiev, Lloyd, Kirov

Starring:Robert Lloyd, Olga Borodina, Alexei Steblianko, Sergei Leiferkus, Alexander Morosov, Yevgeny Boitsov, Vladimir Ognovenko, Igor Yan, Ludmilla Filatova, Larissa Diadkova, Olga Kondina, Yevgenia Perlassova, Vladimir Solodovnikov
Director: Humphrey Burton
Studio: Philips
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Robert Lloyd is Magnificent
Not for the faint of heart
Boris Godunov
Buy it for Mussorgsky's final version and Robert Lloyd's Boris
Splendid production of a great opera.

Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov / Gergiev, Lloyd, Kirov
Starring: Robert Lloyd , Olga Borodina , Alexei Steblianko , Sergei Leiferkus , and Alexander Morosov
Director: Humphrey Burton
Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000631A9
Release Date: 2002-05-14

Customer Reviews:

Robert Lloyd is Magnificent.......2007-06-21

Robert Lloyd's Boris is one of the great recorded performances. Do not miss it.

Not for the faint of heart.......2005-11-15

Mussorgsky's opera BORIS GODUNOV is not for the faint of heart in any way! The story deals with the deception and treachery of Boris Godunov, a government minister in Russia in the early 1600s who becomes ruler when the reigning Czar he is serving dies, and then has the rightful heir to the throne, a young boy, murdered, thus assuring his ascent to power. Boris is eventually afflicted with guilt and goes mad. Mussorgsky's music is glorious, and there are lighter elements in the story line, but "Boris Godunov" is an opera with deep psychological and political meanings and lessons to be learned. This does not create the light-hearted mood of Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" or Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte", for example.

Valery Gergiev conducts the Kirov Orchestra in a live 1990 performance from St. Petersburg to a packed, enthused audience. English bass Robert Lloyd portrays Russia's tormented ruler with all the commitment I can imagine. The other singers, all Russians are not familiar to me, but they sing with commitment and energy. I'm not sure I like Varlaam's aria as well as Feodor Chaliapin sang it-available in a Naxos overview recording made in the late 1920s- but this "Boris.." is very well sung and acted.

Some viewers may not agree with my praise for this production, but I thought this was a terrific performance, and am overwhelmed by Mussorgsky's music, and the opera plot. I don't watch this very often: it is not for the faint of heart, and I must be in a certain, very strong mood to enjoy it. Recommended if you like (or can handle) the story line and Mussorgsky's music.

Boris Godunov.......2005-11-07

I think that this DVD is the greatest opera DVD in my collection. The production itself is beautiful. All of the singers are fabulous. Rarely (particularly in a live production)are all of the singers first rate. The tessitura for Dimitri is a killer. The tenor handles it beautifully. The singer playing Pimen is a gem. His voice is wonderful and his acting is very entertaining. Borodina is magical in her love duet with Dimitri.

With this production, Boris stands up as one of the world's greatest operatic masterpieces along anything out of Wagner's or Verdi's top drawer.

By the way, the production has a very satisfying psychological quality to it. It is not a bunch of actors that are stiff as a board singing on a stage that is loaded with ornate sets. The production is very involving and really quite modern. The colors are breathtaking.

The DVD is fully entertaining and bears frequent reviewing. If I could, I would give it 10 stars

Buy it for Mussorgsky's final version and Robert Lloyd's Boris.......2005-08-24

First, he has a pretty voice.
It's hard to find pretty bass-voices.
Even great singers like Ghiaurov can't be said without any reservation to posses a pretty voice.

Second, he is a superb actor, both vocally and visually.
He perhaps overacts occasionally, but in opera unlike in a spoken drama it's acceptable.

Mussorgsky's originals are superb to Rimsky-Korsakov's arrangement in any respect except for economy perhaps.
Take for example Boris' great monolog:
the first time the famous tune appear it begins on B flat; in the second time the second half of the tune is transposed a quart higher; and the third time it begins on E flat.
Rimsky transposed the beginnings of the first two, hence we get to hear the same tune three times unchanged.
What for?

Lloyd is a real deep-bass, which is another advantage for using Mussorgsky's original.
Because of Rimsky's transposition the bass has to reach the high G flat twice, which is a hard thing for a bass (perhaps it's better to give the part to a baritone whenever using Rimsky's version), and even young Ghiaurov cracked those notes a bit in Karajan's recording.
Mussorgsky's originals fit the bass tessitura better.

Now, for the rest of the cast: in one word - unsurpassable!
Steblianko has a huge voice and an astonishing flexibility.
Borodina is beautiful, both vocally and visually, and her duet with Leiferkus as Ragoni is stunning.

There is no place where Boris Godunov sounds better than where it was premiered - The Mariinsky Theatre!
Gergiev is outstanding.

The stage-direction is unique.

It's the definite "Boris Godunov" production.

Splendid production of a great opera........2004-04-17

This is an incredibly powerful production of one of the most poignant operas written. The cast is uniformly excellent, with Borodina as particularly fine Marina and Leiferkus as a remarkably sinister Rangoni. Lloyd's Boris is wonderfully acted, but his vocal performance is less than ideal--he is far too woofy in his singing. All other aspects of this performance are epic, and it establishes itself as the definitive version of the Mussorgksy orchestrations (the colors and lighting seem to match the music perfectly). Of particular note is the shattering St. Basil scene, one of the most remarkable scenes in all of opera. I highly recommend this DVD.

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