Boris Godunov

Wow. I'm just in from a performance of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov by the Kirov Opera and Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre at the Kennedy Center Opera House. The performance was two hours and twenty minutes with no intermissions (one act with seven scenes), but the time flew by and I was never restless.

We've been hearing dire forecasts of four to twelve inches of snow for today from the weathermen, but all the snow we got today was about one to one and a half inches, and it stopped late afternoon. I walked to and from the Kennedy Center tonight. It's not as long a walk as I thought, since it turns out it's just on the other side of the Watergate. After Laura Bush wore that white cashmere suit for the inaugural swearing-in, everyone is wearing winter white in Washington yesterday and today. I thought maybe the weather would put a damper on the crowds, but the house, while not packed full, was respectably filled. I was lucky enough to get a seat on the front row, about two-thirds of the way off center to the left. It was an excellent seat for me, since I could see much of the orchestra and I was close enough to watch the singers "work". I'm also not dependent on the projected surtitle translations over the stage as are many people, so being down front doesn't bother me at all.

The opera opens with the chorus on stage as a huddled mass, all clothed in Soviet grey and with grey toned makeup on their faces. As they toiled, two large machine apparati with multiple floodlights on each moved around the stage, occasionally shining their bright lights into the audience's eyes. I was very impressed when the boys' chorus came out later in the scene....they have quite a sound! The program notes that they aren't Russian, though—they are the Maryland Boys Choir. In scene two when we finally get to meet Boris, there were some dazzling costumes. All of the boyars (nobles) were dressed in textured metallic gold A-line garments with yard-tall metallic hats. When Boris made his entrance, he was also in a gold garment, but he had this dazzlingly jeweled, lacey metal framework cape with a tall standing collar around him, which he pushed like a cage as he walked around stage. The scenes which take place outside the cathedral are decorated with a dozen huge, blown-glass, "onion" domes which fly in and out from over the stage and which have lighting of their own. There were also four big translucent fiberglas columns which had their color changed in various scenes by different lighting effects. After a few monastery and peasant scenes, once they got back to the royal palace, the costumes were made of exquisitely textured which fabrics. In the final scene, the boyars reappear in black costumes similar to their gold ones, but this time they also had silhouettes which they pushed on to the stage and stood behind.

The main role by far is that of Boris, which was sung by Yevgeny Nikitin. Not surprisingly, as I look down the cast list, there's not a single name I recognize, so I won't repeat them here. The orchestra was conducted by Valery Gergiev, general director.

The close of the opera was greeted with enthusiastic applause from the audience, but they didn't begin to stand during the curtain calls until Boris made his appearance. They did the standard company bows and then the curtain came in, but since the audience was still applauding, they took the curtain out again for another round of bows. Tough audiences here in Washington!

I don't know where it was coming from, but throughout the performance, I kept smelling the distinct odor of vodka! There weren't many people sitting around me, so I don't think any of them were drunk or had vodka spills on their clothing. I can only surmise that the aroma was emanating from the orchestra pit.