Metropolitan Opera Archives

Orchestration by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Translation by M.Delines, E. Palermi, G. Pardo
Synopsis of Scenes
Act I, Scene 1: The wall of Novodievitchi Convent, in the Great Environs of Moscow
Act I, Scene 2: A cell in the Convent of Miracles
Act I, Scene 3: The square between the two Cathedrals of the Assumption and of the Archangels
Act II, Scene 1: An inn on the frontier of Lithuania
Act II, Scene 2: Apartments of the Czar in the Kremlin at Moscow
Act II, Scene 3: Garden of the Castle of Michek
Act III, Scene 1: The forest of Kromy
Act III, Scene 2: Hall of the Duma in the Kremlin
Chaliapin always sang Boris in Russian.

Review 1:

Review signed S. I. K. in the New York Post

CHALIAPIN FAREWELL

Sings Boris Once More - Returns Next Spring

Walking in front of the opera house, a little while before a performance of "Boris Godunoff," Chaliapin observed, far down the line of standees, a little lame girt. He stopped and spoke a few words to her, and the next moment, to everybody's amazement, he had picked her up in his arms, crutches and all, and carried her into the opera house, where he tenderly set her down in an orchestra seat. The humanity of his nature is the core of his genius: his acting invariably contains the elements of universal experience and "makes the whole world kin."

He seems never to go stale, never lose the enchantment of his role. At yesterday's matinee, he was at every moment magnificent and pathetic, the anguish of remorse in the specter scene, and the heart-rending beauty of his final aria, drew tears from many eyes. When, at his death, his great, golden-robed figure lay stiffened and helpless on the floor, an attempt to applaud was immediately silenced by the rest of the audience, and for two or three minutes no sound was heard. Such reverence is a rare tribute.

The rest of the cast was not quite the same as usual: Mario Chamlee repeated Dimitri, singing with a loud, clear tone; Flora Perini acted the good, old nurse; Marina was sung by Jeanne Gordon, and Leon Rothier lent his excellent voice and talent to the role of Pimen.

Search by season: 1923-24

Search by title: Boris Godunov,

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