Composers Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Modest Mussorgsky are actually more inseparable than one might imagine. Both were arguably the most enduring members of The Five. Rimsky-Korsakov famously completed many of his friend’s unfinished works. And the two had birthdays within days of one another. So in celebrating these two historic Russian composers, here is a quiz that pits them against one {…}
Opera Vision will start streaming Mussorgsky’s “Khovanschchina” starting on April 26, 2019. The performance will be broadcast live from the Moscow State Stanislavsky Music Theatre. The gigantic work will feature such artists as Dmitry Ulyanov, Nikolay Erokhin, Najmiddin Mavlyanov, Ksenia Dudnikova, Anton Zaraeva, Denis Makarov, Chingins Ayusheev, Natalia Muradymova, Dmitry Polkopin, and Maria Makeeva, among others. Alexander Titel will direct a {…}
(Photo: Brescia/Amisano – Teatro alla Scala) Defeated by the Tsar, the Old Believers gather together, for a final act of defiance as they prepare for their mass suicide. Led by the monk, Dosifey, they crowd the stage and invoke the name of the Lord, in preparation for their deaths. The Moon, slowly moving towards the Earth, explodes into flames and {…}
Of “The Five” Russian composers, Modest Mussorgsky’s legacy is arguably the most enduring and innovative. Born on March 21, 1839 in Karevo to a wealthy family. He started piano lessons at age six and by age nine was already taking on works of the great composers such as Franz Liszt. At age 10, he went to Saint Petersburg where he {…}
Modest Mussorgsky is best-known for the opera “Boris Godunov,” but he also created “Khovanshchina,” which had its world premiere on Feb. 9, 1886. The opera was written between 1872 and 1880 and upon his death in 1881, Mussorgsky left it unfinished. Rimsky-Korsakov completed, revised, and scored the work, though in years later other composers, such as Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky {…}
On Dec. 23, 2018, Talents of the World brought their first International Music Festival to a stunning conclusion with the company’s Christmas Ball. The night saw a wide-ranging program of opera, operetta, and Christmas songs, and from start to finish there remained a sense of celebration which added much to the showcase of artistry. To Health! Opening the concert was {…}
Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” is legendary. The work is widely regarded as Russia’s greatest opera, even despite its labyrinthine history of revisions. This week, the work opens at the Opéra de Paris in a production by Ivo van Hove with Ildar Abdrazakov and Alexander Tsymbalyuk sharing the title role. Alongside them will be conductors Vladimir Jurowski and Damian Iorio. While Jurowski {…}
Mussorgsky’s masterpiece is an opera with a unique history. Never completed, by the composer, it has undergone numerous different versions, obtaining a premiere on Jan. 27, 1874. Other famous composers have even had their day with the work, offering up their own revisions (read more below). It has been the subject of much study and debate, and for many, is {…}
Mussorgsky’s epic masterpiece, “Khovanshchina,” like its predecessor “Boris Godunov,” is an exploration into a significant period of Russian history. However, whereas “Boris Godunov” focuses primarily on the individual tragedy of Boris, of a Tsar destroyed from within by his own personal demons, “Khovanshchina” is conceived on a far grander scale, one in which Mussorgsky seeks to lay bare the momentous {…}