Boris Godunov

Musically, this 2013 Bayerische Staatsoper production of Modest Mussorgsky's famed opera—the story of the 17th-century tsar whose murder of the rightful heir to the throne leads to his own destruction—is quite good. The Munich orchestra and chorus give their best to outgoing music director Kent Nagano, who paces the score well, while the vocalism is magnificent, with Alexander Tsymbalyuk a sonorous Boris and the supporting cast strong across the board. But there are also serious flaws: the version used here is the 1869 original, a relatively compact piece in seven tableaux that omits all of the additions from the 1872 revision, including the Kromy Forest sequence and the entire Polish-set act, as well as the sumptuous orchestration of the later Rimsky-Korsakov editions. As a result, much marvelous music is missing. More seriously, Calixto Bieito's staging updates the action to today's Russia, recasting it as a critique of politicians like Vladimir Putin who cater to the wealthy while forcibly keeping the populace in thrall. In the process, the work's overtly spiritual overtones are reduced to near negligibility—an example of a stage director's penchant for preferring his own message to the composer's. The sets and costumes also lack the splendor of more traditional mountings such as Konchalovsky's from Turin (VL-11/11), which employs the 1869 score but includes the Kromy Forest sequence (although not the Polish act). Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and PCM stereo on Blu-ray, this ultimately cannot be preferred to existing alternatives, and is therefore an optional purchase. (F. Swietek)