Boris Godunov The Royal Opera RBO

"Richard Jones' stark and disturbing staging of Boris Godunov returns to The Royal Opera this January, ten years after the production's debut. Dark, brooding and unflinchingly psychological, Modest Mussorgsky's great historical tragedy remains one of opera's most searching explorations of guilt, authority and moral collapse. Boris Godunov production image (C) ROH, 2019. Photographed by Clive Barda The opera is based on the life of Boris Godunov, who ruled Russia from 1598 to 1605 during the chaotic period known as the Time of Troubles."

"A capable statesman, although a much-contested ruler, Boris was widely suspected of having ordered the murder of the young Tsarevich Dmitry to secure his own path to the throne. Whether guilty or not, history remembers him as a haunted figure, beset by suspicion, unrest and famine, whose reign ended in political disintegration. Mussorgsky bases his opera on this ethical uncertainty, transforming a moment in history into an intimate portrait of a ruler destroyed as much by his conscience as by his enemies."

"That focus on inner turmoil was radical in 19th-century Russian opera. Modest Mussorgsky, a member of the nationalist group known as The Five, rejected Italianate polish and grand opera conventions in favour of raw realism and speech-like vocal writing. Boris Godunov was his first completed opera and the work on which his reputation largely rests. Composed without a love story and with the Russian people themselves as a central character, it was initially rejected by the Imperial Theatres for being unduly dark and unconventional."

Richard Jones' staging of Boris Godunov returns to the Royal Opera, presenting a dark, brooding and psychological interpretation. The opera dramatizes Boris Godunov's troubled reign from 1598–1605 and the suspicion surrounding the murder of Tsarevich Dmitry. Mussorgsky transforms historical uncertainty into an intimate portrait of a ruler undone by conscience as well as enemies. The score rejects Italianate polish in favour of raw realism and speech-like vocal writing. Originally rejected and revised repeatedly, Boris Godunov later entered the standard repertory. Jones' production embraces Mussorgsky's uncompromising vision and foregrounds inner turmoil over pageantry.

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