Khovanshchina

This 2007 production of Modest Mussorgsky's five-act opera, staged by Germany's Bayerische Staatsoper with direction and set design by Dmitri Tcherniakov, updates the 17th-century setting with a modern environment, using a striking minimalist set and stark lighting to illuminate the dramatic intrigue and violence. The leap forward offers subtle reminders that the troubles that rocked the court of Peter the Great—church-state conflicts, political manipulation, reckless military plotting—remain painfully relevant today. Tcherniakov's intelligent staging highlights the feral power of mob rule—blocks of people move in tight military formations in repeated attempts to secure territory—but the production also showcases the daring courage of rare individuals who stand up to their fate, exemplified most notably in Doris Soffel's exquisite interpretation of Marfa, a member of a religious group called the “Old Believers.” Paata Burchuladze's Prince Ivan Khovansky has the physical presence and vigorous voice suitable for the doomed military leader, although his acting often veers into exuberant emoting that seems more clownish than cunning; Klaus Florian Vogt's interpretation of Prince Andrei Khovansky is more believable, with a genuine physical anguish in his doomed love for Emma (beautifully played by Camilla Nylund). Kent Nagano conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchester in this memorable and imaginative production, presented in DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital stereo. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)