Search - Mussorgsky, Talvela, Gedda :: Boris Godunov

From 1976, a 'Boris' to the manner born

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/17/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For dramatic flair and fine singing, this reissued 'Boris Godunov' from 1976 ranks with the best. For the past decade the limelight has been on Gergiev's Kirov production (on CD and DVD), but Jerzy Semkow sounds more natural and emotionally warm -- not a single scene, including the opening Coronation Scene, sounds stiff or ritualized. The largely Polish cast knows this score well and sings with total commitment. I doubt that anyone who loves 'Boris' could get past the first ten minutes wihtut being rivets.



The two international stars in the production are Martti Talvela and Nicolai Gedda, as the doomed Tsar and Grigory, the false Dmitri who leads the uprising. Both could hardly be bettered -- Gedda is extremely stylish vocally (not many Slavic tenors are), and Talvela, as always, sounds like he's twelve feet tall. He overpowers the role without chewing up the scenery a la Boris Christoff or turning the Tsar into a howling monster. The supporting singers, none of them known outside Poland, I imagine, match the two stars in intensity and honest emotion. Nobody is a puppet in a historic melodrama. The Polish orchestra and chorus, especially the latter, are frankly the best I've ever heard in Mussorgsky's original 1872 version (with a few additions form the earlier 1869). No shouting allowed -- everyone here eally sings.



For brilliant casting and the most natural style to be heard in any 'Boris,' I would back this dark horse over its celebrated rivals, including Abbado, Gergiev, and (in the Rimsky edition) Karajan.



Here's the cast list:



Martti Talvela (Boris); Nicolai Gedda (Grigory/Dimitri); Leonard Mróz (Pimen); Bo¿ena Kinasz (Marina); Andrzej Hiolski (Rangoni/Shchelkalov); Aage Haugland (Varlaam); Kazimierz Pustelak (Missail); Paulos Raptis (The Simpleton); Bohdan Paprocki (Shuisky); Bo¿ena Brun-Barañska (Nurse); Wiera Baniewicz (Fyodor); Halina £ukomska (Xenia);"

After 30 years this is one excelent Boris

Osvaldo Colarusso | Curitiba, Paraná Brazil | 07/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This one was the first recording of the Original Version of Boris Godunov. There was one obligation to hear the criminal version of Korsakow :all the records , Karajan, Cluytens , etc, were in the Korsakow edition. At the beginning the critics were not favorable to this recording, and I believe that this opinion occurred because we had in the ears other harmony,other rhythm , and other orchestration .Now, after all the posterior recordings, that used the original version ( Abbado, Gergiev,Tchakarow ) we can see that this version is one of the bests ,principally because of the singers. It is fantastic to hear Talvela in the title role. Beautiful voice and intelligent dramatically. Mroz is the best Pimen of the history and Gedda is also the best Grigory in the history of the recording of Boris.Andrei Hiolski is amazing as Rangoni and Schekalow.The women are very good, specially Kinasz as Marina and Lukonska as Xenia. The conductor, Senkow, is not bad as the critics used to say . The tempi are interesting and the Orchestra is very good.

For the beauty 0f the voices this is my favorite recording of this opera . And Talvela is among the best Boris of the history."