6. Boris Godunov. The guilt-ridden Tsar. Modest Mussorgsky wrote two versions of Boris Godunov. The first (1869) is compact in structure and powerful and raw in its musical language, interweaving scenes showing the rise and fall of its title character with those featuring the Pretender who will eventually replace him, all set amid depictions of the ordinary Russian people who accept these great events without greatly investing themselves in them. Mussorgsky's second version (1872) was more conventionally lyrical, with an increased love interest for the Pretender. But to make it onto the international stage, the opera needed to be reorchestrated and partially recomposed by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1896.

Nowadays, though, most companies prefer the Shakespearean directness of Mussorgsky's 1869 original, with or without the inclusion of some scenes from the 1873 version, as in the production we shall play today. In the interests of time, however, we shall focus entirely on Boris Godunov's own scenes (three in all), playing the first and last of them complete, plus a representative excerpt from the middle one. It should be said, however, that though this gives a very good idea of the title role itself, it underplays the composer's unique skill in juggling so many disparate elements.