Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg 27 January 1874 Conductor: Eduard Nápravník |
|---|---|---|
| Boris Godunov | bass or baritone | Ivan Melnikov |
| Fyodor (or Feodor), his son | mezzo-soprano | Aleksandra Krutikova |
| Kseniya (or Xenia), Boris's daughter | soprano | Wilhelmina Raab |
| Kseniya's nurse | contralto | Olga Shryoder (Schröder) |
| Prince Vasiliy Ivanovich Shuysky | tenor | Vasiliy Vasilyev, 'Vasilyev II' |
| Andrey Shchelkalov, Clerk of the Duma | baritone | Vladimir Sobolev |
| Pimen, chronicler-hermit | bass | Vladimir Vasilyev, 'Vasilyev I' |
| The Pretender under the name Grigoriy (in training with Pimen) | tenor | Fyodor Komissarzhevsky |
| Marina Mniszech, the daughter of the Sandomierz Voyevoda* | mezzo-soprano or dramatic soprano | Yuliya Platonova |
| Rangoni, a covert Jesuit* | bass | Josef Paleček |
| Varlaam, a vagabond | bass | Osip Petrov |
| Misail, a vagabond | tenor | Pavel Dyuzhikov |
| The Innkeeper | mezzo-soprano | Antonina Abarinova |
| The yuródivïy | tenor | Pavel Bulakhov |
| Nikitich, a police officer | bass | Mikhail Sariotti |
| Mityukha, a peasant | bass | Lyadov |
| The Boyar-in-Attendance | tenor | Sobolev |
| The Boyar Khrushchov* | tenor | Matveyev |
| Lawicki (or Lavitsky), Jesuit* | bass | Vladimir Vasilyev, 'Vasilyev I' |
| Czernikowski (or Chernikovsky), Jesuit* | bass | Sobolev |
| Chorus, silent roles: Boyars, the Boyars' children, streltsï, bodyguards, policemen, Polish nobles, Sandomierz maidens, wandering minstrels, people of Moscow | ||
Note: Roles designated with an asterisk do not appear in the 1869 Original Version. 'Yuródivïy' is often translated as 'Simpleton' or 'Idiot'. However, 'Holy Fool' is a more accurate English equivalent. In other roles lists created by Mussorgsky, Pimen is designated a monk (инок), Grigoriy a novice (послушник), Rangoni a Cardinal (кардинал), Varlaam and Misail vagrant-monks (бродяги-чернецы), the Innkeeper a hostess (хозяйка), and Khrushchov a Voyevoda (воевода). Pimen, Grigoriy, Varlaam, and Misail were likely given non-clerical designations to satisfy the censor.
Read more about this topic: Boris Godunov (opera)
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