Boris Godunov (opera) - Versions

Versions

Note: Musicologists do not agree on the terms used to refer to the two authorial versions of Boris Godunov. Editors Pavel Lamm and Boris Asafyev used "preliminary redaction" and "principal redaction" for the 1st and 2nd versions, respectively, and David Lloyd-Jones designated them "initial" and "definitive." This article, aiming for utmost objectivity, uses "original" and "revised."

1869 Original Version

The Original Version of 1869 is rarely heard. It is distinguished by its fidelity to Pushkin's drama and its almost entirely male cast of soloists. It also adheres more closely to the recitative opera style (opéra dialogué) of The Stone Guest and Marriage, and to the ideals of kuchkist realism, which include fidelity to text, formlessness, and emphasis on the values of spoken theatre, especially through naturalistic declamation. The unique features of this version include:

• The uncut Novodevichiy Scene (Part 1, Scene 1), which concludes with an additional people's scene
• Pimen's narrative of the scene of the murder of Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich (Part 2, Scene 1)
• The original Terem Scene (Part 3), which follows Pushkin's text more closely than does the revised version.
• The Scene at the Cathedral of Vasiliy the Blessed (the 'St. Basil's Scene'—Part 4, Scene 1)
• Shchelkalov's address (Part 4, Scene 2)

The terse Terem Scene of the 1869 version and the unrelieved tension of the two subsequent and final scenes make this version more dramatically effective to some critics (e.g. Boris Asafyev).

1872 Revised Version

The Revised Version of 1872 represents a retreat from the ideals of Kuchkist realism, which had come to be associated with comedy, toward a more exalted, tragic tone, and a conventionally operatic style—a trend that would be continued in the composer's next opera, Khovanshchina. This version is longer, is richer in musical and theatrical variety, and balances naturalistic declamation with more lyrical vocal lines. The unique features of this version include:

• Two new offstage choruses of monks in the otherwise abbreviated Cell Scene (Act 1, Scene 1)
• The innkeeper's 'Song of the Drake' (Act 1, Scene 2)
• The revised Terem Scene (Act 2), which presents the title character in a more tragic and melodramatic light, and includes new songs and new musical themes borrowed from Salammbô
• The conventionally operatic 'Polish' act (Act 3)
• The novel final scene of anarchy (the Kromï Scene—Act 4, Scene 2)

Mussorgsky rewrote the Terem Scene for the 1872 version, modifying the text, adding new songs and plot devices (the parrot and the clock), modifying the psychological treatment of the title character, and virtually recomposing the music of the entire scene.

This version has made a strong comeback in recent years, and has become the dominant version.

1874 Piano Vocal Score

The Piano Vocal Score of 1874 was the first published form of the opera, and is essentially the 1872 version with some minor musical variants and small cuts. The 1874 vocal score does not constitute a 'third version', but rather a refinement of the 1872 Revised Version.

Scene Structure

The distribution of scenes in the authorial versions is as follows:

Upon revising the opera, Mussorgsky initially replaced the St. Basil's Scene with the Kromï Scene. However, on the suggestion of Vladimir Nikolsky, he transposed the order of the last two scenes, concluding the opera with the Kromï Scene rather than the Faceted Palace Scene. This gives the overall structure of the 1872 Revised Version the following symmetrical form:

Editions by other hands

• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, 1896
• Rimsky-Korsakov, 1908
• Emilis Melngailis, 1924
• Dmitri Shostakovich, 1940
• Karol Rathaus, 1952

The Rimsky-Korsakov Version of 1908 has been the most traditional version over the last century, but has recently been almost entirely eclipsed by Mussorgsky's Revised Version (1872). It resembles the Vocal Score of 1874, but the order of the last two scenes is reversed .