Mussorgsky Khovanshchina (2012)

Kent Nagano superbly masters the challenges presented by this score shapes the dynamics with subtle intensity and casts the score in a mellow glow As Marfa the spurned lover of Ivan Khovanskys son Andrei Doris Soffel unfolds such a rich palette of sonorities from the pathos of the lower ranges to shaded discant heights that one is tempted to speak of a Russian mezzo The final chorus which Mussorgsky did not compose is played in the orchestrally transparent version of Igor Stravinsky the third great Russian composer who contributed to making Khovanshchina a timeless gripping stage work With his strippeddown sets and historicising costumes director Dmitri Tcherniakov one of the new voices of contemporary Russian theatre builds a bridge to the political present A lesson in history and music