It's often said that the victors write history. While that may typically be true, Modest Mussorgsky's great opera Khovanshchina gives us a rare perspective on great historical events from the vantage point of the losers. The historical figures holding the initiative for the events depicted in this film (and who most prospered by the outcome), though spoken about, never appear. It is the losers whose lives and deaths we follow.

Historical Background: For more than a hundred years in its history, Russia struggled mightily over the issue of centralization of power vs. power distributed among feudal princes. Ivan the Terrible (1530-1584), for example, spent much of his reign trying to wrest power from the Russian nobility (boyars), starting right from the time that he was crowned as the first czar (see, for example Eisenstein: The Sound Years). Centralization of authority and consolidation of power was crucial to the ability of Russia to modernize, defend itself against foreign threats, and strengthen its opportunities for trade. More than a century later, the task of Peter the Great (1672-1725) would still be pretty much the same. Russia was still a very backward country until Peter consolidated power around 1698 and brought in Western architects, engineers, and scientists. Always, there were those who resisted change, clinging to existing power arrangements, the old ways of doing things, and old beliefs. Peter was son of Czar Alexis. When his father died in 1676, the throne went initially to Peter's older brother, Feodor, but Feodor died in 1682. Peter was still only ten and shared the throne with his weak-minded half brother, Ivan V. In reality, it was Peter's half-sister, the Tsarevna Sophie, who ruled Russia until 1689, as guardian of the two young Tsars. Peter gained actual control of the government in 1689. The action depicted in Khovanshchina, begins in 1682 and pertains to the so-called Khovansky uprising aimed at replacing Sophie and the young Tsars with Prince Andrei Khovansky. History would have been far different had they succeeded.

The Story: The story takes place in five acts. After an instrumental prelude, Act I opens in Red Square in Moscow. It is dawn and a Streltsy sentry, Kuzka, is half asleep. (The Streltsy are soldiers employed by Prince Ivan Khovansky (Alexander Vedernikov), the ruler of Moscow). A Streltsy patrol enters and the soldiers make fun of Kuzka. As morning activities begin in Red Square, one of the first to arrive is the Clerk of the Chancellery, Scrivener (Vitaly Vlasov). Since few in Russia knew how to write at the time, clerks of this kind wrote letters and messages for people for a fee. A boyar, Shaklovity (Vladislav Romanovsky), who is a spy for the Tsarevna, approaches the scribe to dictate a letter, after warning the man that he'll face torture and death if he seeks to identify the author. The message reads, "To Your Imperial Majesties, Tsars and Rulers of all Great, Little, and White Russias, information has been received from the Moscow Streltsy that the boyars, Prince Ivan Khovansky and his son Andrei, wish to stir up dissension in the State throughout the length and breadth of Russia, against the provincial governors, to cause the landed peasantry to rise up against the authorities, to elect reliable governors from the ranks of the Old Believers, and to set on the throne of Moscow Andrei Khovansky." The clerk is naturally frightened to be drafting such a portentous missive.

People begin to gather in the square. When they realize that Ivan Khovansky is approaching, the peasants and Streltsy join together in welcoming their leader, singing, "Hail to the greatest of all the boyars, hail to the White Swan!" "White Swan" is the people's affectionate nickname for the elder Khovansky. Khovansky acknowledges the greeting and then leads the Streltsy on the rounds of Moscow. Soon, the square is all but deserted, except for a pretty young maiden, Emma. Prince Andrei Khovansky (Georgy Andryushchenko) also enters, and spying the attractive girl, begins to force unwanted attentions on her. Princes can do that sort of thing. Andrei's effort is stalled, however, by the arrival of Marfa (Irina Arkhipova), whom Andrei has previously seduced with false promises of love. Andrei wants nothing more to do with Marfa and tries to drive her away with a knife, but she defends herself with one of her own. The elder Khovansky, Ivan, returns with his Streltsy and decides that Emma is to his liking as well. The two princes, father and son, argue over who will have this poor sparrow, and Andrei is prepared to stab her rather than let his father take her. Now, however, it is Dosifei (Evgeny Nesterenko), the high priest of the True Believers, who comes to Emma's rescue, cooling the two princes down and sending Emma off in Martha's care. Dosifei then uses the heat of the moment to fire up the Streltsy and their leaders into defiant defense of the Old Russian faith. The soldiers march off behind the Khovansky princes to seize the Kremlin.

Act II opens in the home of Prince Vasil Galitsyn (Evgeny Raikov). He is reading a letter from the Tsarevna, his former lover. Galitsyn, the leader of the victorious Polish campaign, is currently in favor with the Tsarevna and young Tsars, but fully understands how fickle such alliances can be. Galitsyn's servant, Varsonofyev, announces that the fortuneteller summoned by Galitsyn has arrived. It is Martha. After conjuring up mysterious forces, Martha courageously presents Galitsyn with bad news: he will be stripped of power, wealth, and fame, and exiled ignominiously. Galitsyn orders her to leave and instructs Varsonofyev to drown her in the marsh.

Ivan Khovansky now arrives unannounced and barges his way in. He's angry with Galitsyn for curtailing the power of the boyars, including himself. The two men argue back and forth, neither mincing words. Dosifei enters and joins the verbal tussle, mainly on Khovansky's side. Shaklovity suddenly enters and stuns both Khovansky and Dosifei by announcing that the Poteshni (the Tsar's guard) are arriving and that they've been told, "The Khovanskys are up to their old tricks," and are ordered to arrest them.

Act III is set at a Streltsy barracks opposite Belgorod near the Moscow river. Alone on stage, Martha sings a plaintive aria bemoaning her betrayal by Prince Andrei. Dosifei enters and tries to comfort Martha (who is one of his Old Believers) but is dismayed when she predicts that they'll all soon go up like candles of God amid flames and smoke. As Martha and Dosifei leave, Shaklovity enters from another direction and sings about the imminent destruction of the Streltsy, even as they enter, oblivious to what lies in store for them. The women arrive as well, cursing the Streltsy for their good-for-nothing ways. Scrivenor, the scribe, suddenly rushes in and describes how the Streltsy of Belgorod have been defeated by the Poteshni and foreign mercenaries. The alarmed Streltsy and their womenfolk call for their leader, Prince Ivan, and he duly appears. They beg him to lead them once again into battle, but Ivan declares that the cause is already lost.

Act IV opens in a richly-furnished hall in the residence of Ivan Khovansky. The Prince is dining while a chorus of young girls sings for his entertainment. Khovansky is in a foul mood, so first one song and then another do little to please him. Varsonofyev enters with a message from Prince Galitsyn, warning Khovansky to take care. The arrogant Khovansky orders the messenger thrashed and thrown out, incredulous that he could be in any danger in his own home. He orders his Persian slaves brought out and they perform the famous Dance of the Persian Slaves. As the dance ends, Shaklovity arrives, playing on Khovansky's vanity. He tells Khovansky that the Tsarevna is in grave distress and is convening the High Council at once. Khovansky declares that he's served the Tsarevna well enough in the past and she must have others to do her bidding at present. Shaklovity adds, "You were the first she deigned to summon, prince; she said without your services the Council couldn't take place." "That's as it should be!" responds Khovansky, who then orders his robes of state brought out and a song sung to his glory. As he dresses in his imperial robes, the girls sing, "Let his glory sound in song, ladu, ladu. Glory to the White Swan, ladu, ladu." As Khovansky reaches the door, an assassin appears suddenly and stabs the prince. Shaklovity, standing over Khovansky's dead body, mockingly sings, "Glory to the White Swan, ladu, ladu," and then laughs heartily.

The second scene of Act IV opens in the Square outside the Church of St. Basil in Moscow. People have gathered behind a line of saber-toting guards. Prince Galitsyn is led from the church in chains and is carted away into exile. Dosifei enters and recognizes that Martha's predictions are coming to pass. Khovansky has perished and Galitsyn is headed into exile in disgrace. Martha joins Dosifei and informs him that the High Council has declared that the Old Believers are to be destroyed without mercy. The two discuss a martyr's finale for their band. Andrei Khovansky enters, having gone into hiding among the true believers. Martha breaks the news to the still self-deceived younger Khovansky that his end is near. Even now the Poteshni are searching for him in Moscow. Andrei tries to summon his Streltsy. When they finally enter, they are carrying their own execution blocks. Martha escorts Andrei away to join with the Old Believers. A messenger arrives from the Tsars, Ivan and Peter, pardoning the Streltsy, who now rejoice with their women.

Act V is set at the hermitage of the Old Believers, in a pine forest outside of Moscow. It is night and there is a bright moon. Dosifei, alone on stage, declares that this spot will become a testament to salvation, where his dear ones will win a crown of glory. The Old Believers come out of the Hermitage and Dosifei explains that the time has come for all to martyr themselves. Martha and Andrei join the group, though Andrei quite reluctantly. Martha, however, seems satisfied that she and Andrei will at last be tied together by Fate, even if it must be in flames. The entire group enters the hermitage and it goes up in flames, just as the Poteshni guards arrive.

Themes: The political struggle evident in this opera is reminiscent in some respects of what exists in America today. Dosifei is equivalent to the religious right in America and the Khovanskys to conservative business interests. These two groups form a strange alliance. Galitsyn and Shaklovity represent the liberal side of the political spectrum, pushing for centralization of power. Shaklovity hopes that freeing the peasants from the tyranny of the boyars will improve their lot, but history did not bear his hopes out. Peter ultimately consolidated power but his modernization projects were carried out by forced peasant labor and his military adventures were funded by the imposition of heavy taxes on the peasants. It seems the peasants lose either way, regardless of whether power is centralized or distributed among a larger number of lesser barons.

There are other specific themes as well. Ivan Khovansky illustrates how an excess of pride sets one up for comeuppance. Andrei Khovansky reveals that two-timing inevitably incites bitter vengeance. The Old Believers demonstrate how religious fanaticism is easily turned into empty acts of martyrdom.

Production Values: Modest Petrovitch Mussorgsky was certainly one of the oddest composers in history. He was born in 1839 in Karevo, Russia into a family of wealthy landowners. He was intended for a military career, entering cadet school in St. Petersburg in 1851. Both the cadets and the regiment that Mussorgsky joined in 1856 were a hard-drinking lot and Mussorgsky proceeded down a course that would plague him with alcoholism later in his life. Mussorgsky was a talented piano player and entertained his friends by playing the piano and singing. In 1857, Mussorgsky met Balakireff, the leader of the Russian nationalist school of composition, and began studying composition with him. His early compositions were lackluster.

Mussorgsky's fortunes turned abruptly in 1861 with the liberation of the serfs. Land values plummeted and his family was thrown into poverty. Though Mussorgsky's personal circumstances declined, his artistic life was stimulated by his interest in the social and literary ideals that were blossoming around him. From 1864 to 1867, Mussorgsky composed sets of peasant and lyrical songs and began working on an opera, Salammbô, which he later abandoned. In 1868, Mussorgsky began what would prove to be his masterpiece, Boris Godunoff. He completed it in 1869, but the Imperial Theatre rejected it in its initial form. He reconstructed it during 1871-2 and it was performed and published in its revised from in 1874. Audiences loved it but the critics denounced it for its unconventional methods and harmonies.

By 1874, Mussorgsky's personal life was in shambles. His only source of income was a low-wage government job and his drinking problem had gotten the best of him. Nevertheless, he undertook two projects that would consume most of the remainder of his artistic life: Khovanshchina and The Fair at Sarochinsk. When Mussorgsky died in 1881, the vocal portion of the first was very nearly complete while only a few scenes existed for the latter. What happened next was truly remarkable.

The composer Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakoff set out to salvage what he could of Mussorgsky's genius. In some respects, Rimsky-Korsakoff was the diametric opposite of Mussorgsky. Mussorgsky had raw genius with minimal formal training and little knowledge of orchestration. Rimsky-Korsakoff's great strength as a composer was brilliant orchestration, but his music was too often lacking in inspiration and innovativeness. In 1883, Rimsky-Korsakoff whipped Khovanshchina into shape. He later did the same for Boris Godunoff. In doing so, Rimsky-Korsakoff often made severe cuts, bowdlerized the originals, and "correcting" many of the innovative harmonies that had made Mussorgsky's music distinctive. Stung by the criticism of his handling of Mussorgsky's material, Rimsky-Korsakoff engineered a second revision of Boris Godunoff, published in 1908, that restored many of the cuts and hewed more closely to the original harmonies.

The version of Khovanshchina performed by the Bolshoi for the present DVD is the one completed and orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov in 1883, first performed in St. Petersburg on February 21st, 1886. Dimitri Shostakovich later reorchestrated both Khovanshchina and Boris Godunoff during the 1940's, so there are a total of five version of Boris Godunoff published (two each with orchestration by Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakoff and one orchestrated by Shostakovich) and two for Khovanshchina. I've reviewed a version of Boris Godunov from 1954, directed by Vera Stroyeva. It was based on Mussorgsky's own second version. The Shostakovich version of Khovanshchina can be heard and seen on VHS, though it is difficult to find. It was released in 1960 and directed by Vera Stroyeva. Shostakovich received an Oscar nomination for it in the category of Best Music/Scoring for a Musical Picture.

Russian opera performed at the Bolshoi is as authentic as Russian opera can be. This DVD was made from a live taping from 1979 at the Bolshoi Opera theatre. The sets are magnificent, especially those for Act III and Act IV, Scene 1. The costumes are utterly stunning. The film also opens with a shot of the exterior of the Bolshoi Opera house, so one truly gets the feeling of being there. One of my life ambitions is to attend a live performance of Khovanshchina at the Bolshoi. This DVD is as close as I'm going to get to that experience for the time being.

The cast is outstanding. Russian opera is most known for the quality of the basses and in Khovanshchina, both of the two lead roles are performed by basses – two of the world's greatest. Evgeny Nesterenko, who performs the role of Dosifei magnificently, has also appeared on film in the title role in a 1987 television version of Boris Godunov (which I own and may get around to reviewing in the future), a 1970 version of Prince Igor, and a 1985 television version of Attila. Alexander Vedernikov is the other great bass in this performance, singing the role of Ivan Khovansky. He played Pimen in the 1987 version of Boris Godunov.

The other great star in this film is the inimitable Irina Arkhipova in the role of Marfa. Arkhipova is a legendary mezzo-soprano, born December 2nd, 1925, in Moscow. Her performance combines dignity and a beautifully mellow mezzo sound. She can also be seen on tape as Azucena in a 1972 performance of Il Trovatore. She also sings the role of Marfa in the 1960 version of Khovanshchina and is the only cast carryover between the two versions. The rest of the cast is excellent as well. Baritone Vladislav Romanovsky sings the part of Shaklovity, tenor Evgeny Raikov is Prince Galitsyn, tenor Vitaly Vlasov is Scrivenor, the Chancellery Clerk, and tenor Georgy Andryushchenko sings the role of Andrei Khovansky. There's not a weak voice in the entire production and the acting is strong as well. Yuri Simonov conducts the Chorus and Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre with energy and a solid appreciation for tempos.

I have a few minor complaints in relation to this product. There's no libretto or companion booklet, other than a one page listing of chapters and even those are listed by Russian text, so without a libretto on hand, you can have little idea where each chapter begins. Fortunately, I had a high quality libretto that came with my audio recording of Khovanshchina, with both the original Russian and English translations. The English subtitles are easily readable but are the burned on variety. The translations are good quality. The DVD cover lists the names of only five cast members and even the credits on the film list only seven of them. The DVD has two audio skips, though they are momentary and not excessively jarring. The sound quality is otherwise excellent, rendered in 2.0 Dolby digital. The picture is full screen (with an aspect ratio of 4:3). The running time is 172 minutes.

Bottom-Line: Despite being relatively unknown, Khovanshchina is, in my opinion, one of the greatest operas ever written and the equal of Mussorgsky's famous masterpiece, Boris Godunov. Act IV, Scene 1, is the opera's highlight and ranks with the best individual acts in the opera repertoire. I still prefer the 1960 version that is out-of-print because it was a truly cinematic rendition, filmed in magnificent settings throughout Russia and opened up to include outdoor settings. Nevertheless, a staged performance at the Bolshoi is the next best thing and this rendition certainly does not disappoint. The vocal quality, sets, costumes, and orchestra performance are all top quality. The DVD product from Kultur provides no extras, minimal documentation, burned on subtitles, and over-saturated red (which you can compensate for by adjusting your televisions tint settings), but the performance itself is magnificent. If you can find the 1960 version (VHS only, I believe), buy that. If not, this is a highly competitive alternative with DVD availability.



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You can easily access my other opera reviews using the following lists:

Top-Twelve Film Versions of Operas
Metalluk's Twenty Best Pre-Romantic (Baroque & Classicism) Operas, on DVD
Metalluk's Twenty-five Best Italian Romantic Period Operas, on DVD
Metalluk's Twenty Best Non-Italian Romantic Period Operas, on DVD
Metalluk's Thirty Best Operas of the 20th-Century, on DVD
Metalluk's Best Opera from Each Decade of the 20th-Century, on DVD

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12