Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov

“Konchalovsky sticks to the 1869 original...Orlin Anastassov makes a rich-voiced but wildly over-the-top Godunov...It's good to have the superlative treble Pavel Zubov as Boris's son Fyodor...Best is Gianandrea Noseda's fluent and urgent conducting” BBC Music Magazine, October 2011 ***

“[Noseda] paces and balances Boris most naturally, eschewing brassy climaxes or over-melodramatic spookiness...Konchalovsky's detailed work with his responsive soloists has some of the over-the-top manic energy of Orson Welles in his Shakespeare films: the glinting, desperate, trapped eyes of Orlin Anastassov's Tsar and the fussy sweat-wiping mannerisms of Peter Bronder's Shuisky create an apt other-worldly presence. Both too are in fine voice.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2012

“Noseda is well-schooled in this repertoire through Valery Gergiev’s mentorship and offers a viscerally exciting performance of the score. His tempi are keen and there is plenty of thrust to his orchestra’s attack...Orlin Anastassov is a much younger Boris than we’re used to seeing, but then the real Boris Godunov became regent at the age of 34. Opulently costumed, he cuts a noble figure from the start and has the vocal resources to match.” Opera Britannia, 30th October 2011 ****/*****

“Anastassov is vocally and physically imposing as the Tsar. It is not, I think, being fanciful to say that from early on his staring eyes reflect the first signs of Boris's mental derangement. His voice emerges with deep resonance, focused, flowing, dark of timbre...The cast has no weaknesses...I rate the performance highly.” International Record Review, October 2011

“Film director Andrei Tarkovsky, famous for science- fiction classics Solaris and Stalker and the historical epic Andrei Rublev, was a master of symbolic effect – the gigantic pendulum, the grotesquely faceless Idiot, living statuary, the angelic murdered child amid falling snow. But against such stylisation the action, vividly captured by video director Humphrey Burton, comes correspondingly alive, no stiff Bolshoi pageant; chorus and soloists act their hearts out.
Borodina is an ideal Marina, beautiful and burnished of tone but chillingly self-absorbed; perhaps rightly, she strikes more sparks with Leiferkus's vampiric, honey-toned Rangoni than with Steblianko's stolid but lyrical Pretender. Ognovenko's Varlaam is somewhat young and baritonal, but foreshadows stardom, as does Dyadkova's superbly touching, plangent Feodor. Boitsov's Shuisky, Morosov's noble Pimen and Solodovnikov's Idiot are less outstanding but still excellent. The only outsider is at the centre. Robert Lloyd's Boris first appears (reflecting contemporary portraits) moustached but beardless; the customary hedge appears in later acts, neatly marking the passing years. His finely shaded bassocantante has been criticised for being too light, but such doubts fade before his idiomatic-sounding Russian and magnificent characterisation, culminating in a truly harrowing death scene.
Gergiev's reading is less brilliant than his dual recording, often rather soft-centred; but he still brings out the sheer anguished beauty of the score.
The excellent stereo soundtrack has also been remastered into DTS surround-sound, and very airy and ambient this sounds, from the opening wave of applause sweeping across the auditorium.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“an outstanding film...admirably conducted by Valery Gergiev, joined by Robert Lloyd as Boris, one of his greatest performances, and a superb supporting cast.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“Konchalovsky sticks to the 1869 original...Orlin Anastassov makes a rich-voiced but wildly over-the-top Godunov...It's good to have the superlative treble Pavel Zubov as Boris's son Fyodor...Best is Gianandrea Noseda's fluent and urgent conducting” BBC Music Magazine, October 2011 ***

“[Noseda] paces and balances Boris most naturally, eschewing brassy climaxes or over-melodramatic spookiness...Konchalovsky's detailed work with his responsive soloists has some of the over-the-top manic energy of Orson Welles in his Shakespeare films: the glinting, desperate, trapped eyes of Orlin Anastassov's Tsar and the fussy sweat-wiping mannerisms of Peter Bronder's Shuisky create an apt other-worldly presence. Both too are in fine voice.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2012

“Noseda is well-schooled in this repertoire through Valery Gergiev’s mentorship and offers a viscerally exciting performance of the score. His tempi are keen and there is plenty of thrust to his orchestra’s attack...Orlin Anastassov is a much younger Boris than we’re used to seeing, but then the real Boris Godunov became regent at the age of 34. Opulently costumed, he cuts a noble figure from the start and has the vocal resources to match.” Opera Britannia, 30th October 2011 ****/*****

“Anastassov is vocally and physically imposing as the Tsar. It is not, I think, being fanciful to say that from early on his staring eyes reflect the first signs of Boris's mental derangement. His voice emerges with deep resonance, focused, flowing, dark of timbre...The cast has no weaknesses...I rate the performance highly.” International Record Review, October 2011