Search - Stoyan Popov, Modest Mussorgsky, Atanas Margaritov :: Mussorgsky: Khovanschina

Good Moderate Priced Recording of Unfinished Masterpiece

Christopher Forbes | Brooklyn,, NY | 07/18/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Khovanshchina is a frustrating and beautiful opera. The work was left unfinished at Mussorgsky's death, with very little orchestration completed. Rimsky-Korsakov finished the opera, adding his polished instrumentation to the vocal score and "correcting" Mussorgsky's harmony. In the late 20th century it became fashionable to revive Mussorgsky's original Boris Godanov and one wishes that we could do the same with Khovanshchina. Mussorgsky's original ideas are much bolder than Rimsky-Korsakov's sweetened revisions. Unfortunately, other than the Shostakovitch version, which I think has yet to make it to CD, this is the only version available. Khovanshchina mines the same territory as Boris Godanov. The melodic lines are delivered in a dramatic oratory style as opposed to the more graceful arias of the Italians, and yet Mussorgsky always has a feeling for melody, even in his arioso. What Khovanchina does not have is a strong complex central character like Boris. The plot is as episodic as Boris, and the choral writing is wonderful. The chorus becomes the representation of the Russian people in the same way as the chorus in Boris does, but without a strong foil, the libretto stutters a bit. Some scenes are marvelous and the music is universally strong, but the drama falters. The performances on this Capricio disk are quite good, though noone is a "name" performer. The Kirov version is superior to this, but costs about twice as much. My one big complaint with the CD is that the libretto is not included, something that is often the case with Capriccio CDs. This is a big problem in Khovanshchina, since the story defies synopsis. I luckily have a libretto from an old LP of the opera, but I think that the lack of a libretto is a detraction for newcomers to this opera. However, the price makes this an attractive option indeed. Reommended with reservations."