This Polish Boris Godunov comes from … Tokyo

Tonight Slippedisc, courtesy of OperaVision, streams Boris Godunov from New National Theatre Tokyo.

This new staging is conducted by Kazushi Ono, artistic director of New National Theatre, and directed by Mariusz Treliński, who is artistic director of the Polish National Opera – although the Poles decided not to stage this production since the invasion of Ukraine.  Treliński’s work in opera is known for bringing out the essential beauty of the music within a contemporary theatrical aesthetic.    This production combines the 1869 original version and the 1872 revised version of the opera.

The music is filled with innovative harmonies based on Russian folk songs and traditional Russian Orthodox church music, and is considered the pinnacle of Russian opera.  The title role is sung by Guido Jentjens and Fyodor (Feodor)  by Eiko Koizumi.

The opera is performed in Russian. Subtitles available in English, Japanese and Russian.

It might well be essential viewing.

The Plot:  based on a play by Aleksandr Pushkin, the opera traces the life story of the Russian Regent, Boris Godunov, during the Time of Troubles in the late 16th century, from his coronation to his death. Considered the pinnacle of Russian opera, this sombre tragedy is about the cries of a nation, the scheming of those in power and the anguish of a leader. Like Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Boris Godunov is capable of murder in pursuit of power. When Boris’s political opponents substitute a pretend descendant of the previous tsar, the so-called Pretender, to stage a coup d’état, Godunov, tormented by remorse, is certain that it is the reincarnation of his victim who, like an angel of vengeance, has come to take his life.