Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Boris Godunov, opera: Prologue. Scene 1. Introduction
2. Boris Godunov, opera: Prologue. Scene 1. Well then, what's wrong with you?
3. Boris Godunov, opera: Prologue. Scene 1. Who are you abandoning us to
4. Boris Godunov, opera: Prologue. Scene 1. Who are you abandoning us to
5. Boris Godunov, opera: Prologue. Scene 1. True believers! The boyar is implacable
6. Boris Godunov, opera: Prologue. Scene 1. Glory to Thee, Creator on high
7. Boris Godunov, opera: Prologue. Scene 1. Did you hear what the holy pilgrims said?
8. Boris Godunov, opera: Prologue. Scene 2. Introduction
9. Boris Godunov, opera: Prologue. Scene 2. Long live Tsar Boris Fyodorovich!
10. Boris Godunov, opera: Prologue. Scene 2. My soul is sad
11. Boris Godunov, opera: Prologue. Scene 2. Glory!
12. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 1. Introduction
13. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 1. Just one final story
14. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 1. O Lord, strong and righteous
15. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 1. Do not complain, brother
16. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 1. For a long time, honoured father
17. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 1. I arrived at night
18. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 1. How old was the murdered Tsarevich?
19. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 1. They are ringing for matins
20. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 2. Introduction
21. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 2. I caught a grey drake
22. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 2. Give me some fun
23. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 2. Why are you so pensive, comrade?
24. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 2. Here's what happened at the town of Kazan
25. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 2. Why don't you sing along?
26. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 2. We are humble elders, honest monks
27. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 2. What are you staring at me like that for?
28. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 1. Scene 2. And his age... and his age...

Disc 2:

1. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 2. Where are you, my betrothed
2. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 2. Oh, that's enough, princess, my dear!
3. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 2. A gnat was chopping wood
4. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 2. My little tale is about this and that
5. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 2. What's the matter? Has a wild beast surprised a sitting hen?
6. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 2. I have achieved absolute power
7. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 2. Hey, pss!
8. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 2. Our little parrot was with the nannies
9. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 2. Ah, it's you, glorious orator
10. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 2. In Uglich, in the cathedral, in front of all the people
11. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 3. Scene 1. By the sky-blue waters of the Vistula, under a shady willow
12. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 3. Scene 1. Enough! The beautiful lady is grateful
13. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 3. Scene 1. Marina is bored. Oh, how bored!
14. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 3. Scene 1. Ah! Oh, it's you, my father
15. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 3. Scene 1. With tender, ardent words of love
16. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 3. Scene 1. What?... You impudent liar!
17. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 3. Scene 2. At midnight, in the garden, by the fountain
18. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 3. Scene 2. Tsarevich!
19. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 3. Scene 2. Can a humble and sinful man, praying for his dear ones
20. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 3. Scene 2. Polonaise - I do not believe in your passion, sir
21. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 3. Scene 2. That crafty Jesuit, he has got me firmly in the grip
22. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 3. Scene 2. How long and agonizing
23. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 3. Scene 2. Oh, Tsarevich, I beg you
24. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 3. Scene 2. My turtledoves!

Disc 3:

1. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 4. Scene 1. Introduction
2. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 4. Scene 1. What, is mass finished already?
3. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 4. Scene 1. Trrr, trrr - Iron cap
4. Boris Godunov, opera: Act 4. Scene 1. Ah-ah-ah! Boris
5. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 1. Introduction
6. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 1. Exalted boyars!
7. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 1. Well, then? Let's go and vote, boyars
8. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 1. What a shame that prince Shuisky isn't here
9. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 1. He was whispering: keep away, keep away
10. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 1. Here, by the front entrance
11. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 1. A humble monk
12. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 1. Once, in the evening
13. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 1. The Tsarevich - quickly!
14. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 1. Farewell, my son
15. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 1. A bell! A funeral knell!
16. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 2. Bring him over here!
17. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 2. It's not a falcon flying in the heavens
18. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 2. The sun and moon have grown dark
19. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 2. Hey ho!
20. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 2. Domine, Domine, salyum fac
21. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 2. Glory to you, Tsarevich
22. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 2. We, Dimitri Ivanovich
23. Boris Godunov, opera: 1874 Version. Scene 2. Flow, flow, bitter tears

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #110281 in Music
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 1994-05-03
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: .77 pounds

Amazon.com
Claudio Abbado uses Mussorgsky's text in a condition almost as complete as Mstislav Rostropovich's but avoiding some overlap from variant readings. He brings to his conducting the same vitality and scrupulous attention to small details that are familiar from his work in Italian opera. His cast is good throughout and particularly strong in the leading roles. This is a Boris to live with, one that gets better with repeated hearings. --Joe McLellan

Customer Reviews

Magnificent!
"Wow" indeed! This is one of the most electrifying opera recordings I have ever heard and one of the most perfectly recorded. A real musical feast! I agree that Abbado is probably the best Russian music conductor today. I admire Gergiev's achievements and his indefatigability in propagating this repertoire before the Western audiences - it was through Gergiev that I started my fascination with this incredible musical world, but now, after having heard Abbado's "Boris" I crave for more Russian pieces from the Italian conductor. His magnificent recording of "Khovanshchina" was a revelation to me and led me directly to his "Boris", another musical epiphany. I knew the opera from the two versions recorded by Gergiev, with which I would not part under any circumstances, but Abbado's set strenghten my admiration for this rich and intoxicating score. No admirer of this masterpiece can afford to be without the Abbado set, but Gergiev is also a must buy and I would have a hard time trying to decide which of these two (or three, in fact, since Gergiev's recording contains - on 5 CDs for the price of 3 - both versions of the opera) should be the best recommendation for a newcomer. There is nothing on the price level that would speak in favor of either recording, but Gergiev offers much more music for the same money and his recording is the most complete you will ever get (you can play both versions independently). Here you get two Boris's - two different singers to portray the hero - and both sing admirably and often touchingly, but Anatoly Kotcherga's Boris for Abbado is something of a marvel. His is a magnificent performance! There is quite a striking difference between Abbado's and Gergiev's Marina, sung by Marjana Lipovshek in the first case, in the other by incomparable Olga Borodina. I added "incomparable" not in order to stress my preference but simply to indicate my growing admiration for this artist. Borodina sings beautifully - in vocal terms her Marina is superior to Lipovshek's, much more polished and refined. But Lipovshek scores in her general characterisation - she makes you more aware of who you are dealing with: a proud and ambitious princess, but what more - a cynical one. What really distinguishes these recordings is the involvement of the orchestras. You will marvel at the richness of this music more often while listening to Abbado's Berliner Philharmoniker! And this is of course a very important point because this music must be played with thousands of colours! Not that Gergiev did not achieve this goal - I am far from saying that, but in the Abbado's version there is much more excitement in the air and that "something" that escapes the words. If you can have only one "Boris", get the Abbado set but be prepared: soon you will find yourself buying the Kirov/Gergiev version (and maybe also a few other recordings of the opera currently on the market) because you'll never have enough of listening to this masterpiece.

Magnificent Boris Godunov
Everyone knows that Claudio Abbado is the finest living Verdi and Rossini conductor, but few know that he probably is the finest Russian Music conductor since Mravinsky too. And even if his Stravinsky and Prokofiev are marvelous, it is his Mussorgsky that really stands out. Abbado presents Boris Godunov as a big, colorful and powerful canvas. Of course he prefers the original Mussorgsky scoring, and in his hands (and the Berlin Philharmonic's) it sounds unbelievably gorgeous. His cast is mostly excellent. Bass Anatoly Kotcherga is very impressive vocally, and very moving as the Zar. Marjana Lipovsek is equally good as Marina. There is no better recorded Dmitri than Sergei Larin, so it is a pity that Sam Ramey was chosen as Pimen. He sings very well as expected, but his smooth voice sounds alien in this opera, rather like using Luigi Alva as Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess. But in general this is the finest, most deeply felt Boris Godunov of the stereo era. The 5 CD Kirov recording in PHILIPS is also a "must" for collectors, since it offers both versions of Boris for the price of 3 CD's. But Abbado's conducting is if anything, finer and more dramatic than Gergiev's, and Pimen excepted, his cast is far better. This is the Boris Godunov for your library.

The agony of evil isn't here--but everything else is
For svirtuosic playing and excellent sound, I agree with the reviewer who picks this version of the Shostakovich edition (working from Mussorgsky's original orchestration) and the Karajan for Rimsky-Korsakov's more "civilzed" reorchestration. I think we're past the time when only one or the other can be approved; each is wonderful in its own way.

I just wanted to add that in theater tradition Boris is an agonized, guilty monster, a Czar who used murder to gain his throne. He attracts sympathy through overt suffering, not for any sympathetic quality other than love of his son. To portray this agony is essential, and it is almost impossible to overplay it so far as Russian audiences are concerned. Even the scenery-chewing Boris Christoff, who practically gets hysterical in the clock and death scenes, is actually right in line. Abbado's Boris, the estimable Anatoly Kotcherga, I find rather cool and restrained when it comes to guilt-ridden agony, but the overall cast is so good--especially Dmitri and Marina, who tend to be awful on Soviet recordings--that I agree wholeheartedly with the amazon reviewer. This is a Boris to live with for a long time to come.