Music Performance Reviews

If the first performance of Khovanshchina is any indication, the Kirov Opera's three weeks at the Metropolitan Opera House promises to offer New York a stunning glimpse of Russia's operatic legacy. Mussorgsky's three-and-a half hour epic, pitting power struggles in the era of Peter the Great against a personal story of love, betrayal, and sacrifice, shows the composer at his most passionate. The story concerns three princes and a spiritual leader, each hoping to shape Russia in his own image. In the shadow of this rivalry, Marfa laments the rejection of her fiancé, a son of one of the princes. All are ultimately crushed by the might of Peter the Great. Mussorgsky left an unorchestrated vocal score at his death in 1881. Both Rimsky-Korsakov, in 1883, and Shostakovich, in 1958, completed orchestrations for the masterpiece. It was the latter composer's version that was used by the Kirov.

The Kirov proved its world supremacy in this repertoire with a near-perfect cast. As Marfa, Olga Borodina focused her sumptuous mezzo to display each nuance of her character and vocal line. Her bellows begging not to be killed still ring in my ears. As her voice filled the auditorium with velvet, the MET audience realized what it had missed last season when she had to cancel singing Dido in Les Troyens because of her pregnancy. She remains a singer with tight control of a mammoth voice-maneuvering it with care and unleashing it only when dramatically and musically appropriate.

Vladimir Ognovenko's Prince Ivan Khovansky, Mikhail Kit's Dosifei, Gegam Grigorian's Prince Vasily Golitsin, and Valery Alexeev's Shaklovity were all standouts, each with such dramatic, full voices that one almost could not imagine the parts sung by anyone else. Hearing native Russian speakers sing Khovanshchina was a relevation. The natural growls and melancholic tones of the language propelled the drama to its tragic conclusion. For the first time at the Met, I truly felt that the House's standard 30- minute intermissions were actually necessary to unwind from the raw emotional power of each scene.

Conductor Valery Gergiev, so equivocal last season with his Wagner and Verdi at the MET, took charge of the orchestra and brought out the score's glorious colors. Granted, there were moments when he overwhelmed the singers with sound, but one almost expects this in a performance of such fervor. The Kirov Chorus and Ballet also deserve accolades for their dazzling efforts. The sets seemed merely functional as compared to the MET's usual standard, but this remains only a negligible issue. This performance proved that Khovanshchina should join the composer's better-known Boris Godunov as a staple in the Western operatic repertoire.

The Kirov is repeating this opera three more times during its visit, each time with a different cast. There were a number of empty seats at this first performance, but judging from the tumultuous ovation the singers received, news of this fantastic production will get out quickly. Other operas to be presented during the company's run include Prokofiev's Semyon Kotko, Rubenstein's The Demon (in concert form), Rimsky-Korsakov's The Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, and Verdi's Macbeth. See www.metopera.org for dates, times, complete synopses, cast information, and tickets.

For more information, contact Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower at zlokower@bestweb.net