Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina

A lyrical drama in a context of political, religious and cultural revolution, in the heart of the late 17th century in Russia.

The story takes place during the 1682 revolt opposing the Old Believers and the New Orthodox. Ivan Khovanski (Vladimir Ognovenko), head of the streltsy's uprising, embodies the movement of religious indignation which ends up being bloodily crushed.

This posthumous work by Mussorgky, whose score was completed by Shostakovitch a few years after the composer's death, is here staged by Stein Winge for the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

According to the specialists, Boris Godunov might be Mussorgsky's best-known work, but Khovanshchina is obviously the composer's greatest masterpiece. The choir parts carry the essence of the "Russian spirit" and the score of the opera furnished important material to the Red Army Choir.