Boris Godunov - Royal Ballet and Opera

Boris Godunov - Royal Ballet and Opera description

It's dark, intense and brooding – don't miss Boris Godunov at the ROH.

Make your way to the Royal Opera House for Richard Jones' legendary version of Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky's awesome opera Boris Godunov. It stars the magnificent Bryn Terfel as the tormented Tsar, and the drama is conducted by Mark Wigglesworth.

Tsar Boris Godunov's route to ruling his country was bloody and violent, and as famine stalks the nation, he's haunted by his role in killing the boy who was meant to take the throne, nine year old Dmitry. As the Tsar becomes ever-more racked with guilt, next door in Poland a determined younger man is keen to grab the crown. Russia is descending into chaos, the Tsar is losing the plot, and the ghosts of his past are haunting him. Will they take the ultimate revenge?

The real-life Boris Godunov reigned in Russia between 1598 to 1605, known as the 'Time of Troubles'. This opera is based on the 1825 tragedy by Alexander Pushkin, who was in turn inspired by William Shakespeare's work, which informs this powerful piece of opera drama. The composer Modest Mussorgsky, who also wrote the libretto, was born in 1839 in the Russian city of Pskov, one of five famous composers who were keen to create a Russian national school of music. Joining the St Petersburg Cadet School at 13, he quickly became an alcoholic and died far too early, just a week after he turned forty two.

The Director is Richard Jones. The set designer Miriam Buether joins costume designer Nicky Gillibrand, lighting designer Mimi Jordan Sherin and movement director Ben Wright, and the cast varies throughout the run.

Grab some Boris Godunov tickets to experience a supremely dark and disturbing story rooted in Russia's violent past.

Playing at Royal Opera House

Bow Street, London, WC2E 9DD GB (venue info)

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