Organization

Conductor

Riccardo Chailly

Stage director

Kasper Holten

Set designer

Es Devlin

Costume designer

Ida Marie Ellekilde

Lighting designer

Jonas Bǿgh

Video designer

Luke Halls

Singer

Baritone

Ildar Abdrazakov

Boris Godunov

Mezzo-soprano

Lilly Jørstad

Fyodor

Soprano

Anna Denisova

Kseniya

Agnieszka Rehlis

Kseniya's nurse

Tenor

Norbert Ernst

Prince Vasiliy Ivanovich Shuysky

Alexey Markov

Andrey Shchelkalov

Bass

Ain Anger

Pimen

Aleksander Kravets

Misail

Maria Barakova

The innkeeper

Yaroslav Abaimov

Simpleton

Roman Astakhov

Mityukha

Bass-baritone

Oleg Budaratskiy

First police officer

Dmitrij Golovnin

Grigoriy

Stanislav Trofimov

Varlaam

Police officer in the inn

Vasyl Solodkyy

Court Boyar

Adam Palka

Teatro alla Scala

Others

Coro del Teatro alla Scala

Orchestra

Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala

Milan

Italy

At the beginning of the 17th century, the Russian Empire is shaken by a scramble for power following the death of Tsar Fyodor I: it is the Time of Troubles… Milan’s La Scala opens its 2022-23 opera season with the five-act drama Boris Godunov, staged by Kasper Holten, conducted by inimitable Maestro Riccardo Chailly in his ninth season opener at the prestigious venue, and starring Ildar Abdrazakov in the title role!

Mussorgsky’s masterpiece is not a random choice: it bears echoes of Verdi’s Macbeth, which opened the previous season, and holds a special place in La Scala’s history. The first Italian staging of Boris Godunov took place here in 1909, and in 1979, Claudio Abbado—assisted by none other than a young Chailly himself—opened the Scala season with a memorable production of this classic drama, under the direction of the legendary Juri Ljubimov.  

Holten’s staging and Es Devlin’s set design highlight the thematic core of the plot, by connecting Pushkin’s drama—from which the libretto was taken—with a Shakespearian inspiration: Boris Godunov, played by world-renowned bass Abdrazakov, is suffering from remorse over the assassination of the legitimate heir to the throne, the Tsarevich Dmitri; meanwhile, a young vagrant-monk (played by Dmitry Golovnin), pretending to be the prince, persuades the King of Poland to invade the Russian territories. While the country descends into chaos, the Tsar descends into madness…

In this plot brimming with violence and intrigue, where personal and collective history intersect, a five-star cast captivates from start to finish, including Ain Anger—impeccable in the role of the chronicler Pimen—the remarkable Anna Denisova as the delicate Ksenyia, and Norbert Ernst as the prince Vasiliy Shuysky.

Fotografies