The Met Has Staged Boris in Italian, Russian-Italian, English, Russian

Summary: The Met has staged Boris in Italian, Russian-Italian, English, Russian during the Mussorgsky opera's 38-season performance history, 1913 to 2022.

American operatic bass-baritone George London became the first to sing the title role of Boris Godunov in English at Met Opera with his addition of the role to his Met Opera portfolio on March 6, 1953; NBC portrait of George London, March 1953: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Met has staged Boris in Italian, Russian-Italian, English, Russian during the Modest Mussorgsky opera's performance history of 38 seasons, from seasons 1912-1913 through 2021-2022.

Russian Romantic Era composer Modest Mussorgsky (March 21, 1839-March 28, 1881) based his historical opera about medieval Russian Tsar Borís Fyodorovich Godunóv (Russian: Бори́с Фёдорович Годуно́в; 1552-April 23 [O.S. April 13] 1605) on the name-named play by modern Russian literature founder Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (Russian: Александр Сергеевич Пушкин; June 6 [O.S. May 26] 1799-Feb. 10 [O.S. Jan. 29 ] 1837). Pushkin's play had premiered Sep. 17, 1870, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. For his 1872 revision of his opera, Mussorgsky consulted Pushkin's source, the 12-volume History of the Russian State (Russian: История государства Российского), published 1816-1829, by Russian historian and writer Nikolay Mikhailovich Karamzin (Russian: Николай Михайлович Карамзин; Dec. 12 [O.S. Dec. 1] 1766-June 3 [O.S. May 22] 1826).

The world premiere of Boris Godunov by Russian Romantic Era composer Modest Mussorgsky (March 21, 1839-March 28, 1881) took place Jan. 27, 1874, at the Mariinsky Theatre, according to the historic theatre's website. Located at 1 Theatre Square, the theatre had opened Oct. 2, 1860, with a performance of A Life for the Tsar by Glinka. The theatre's name honors Maria Alexandrovna (Russian: Мария Александровна); Aug. 8, 1824-June 3, 1880), Empress Consort of Russia as the wife of Emperor Alexander II (Russian: Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич; April 29, 1818-March 13, 1881).

The historical opera's United States premiere occurred 39 years one and two-third months after its world premiere. The Metropolitan Opera hosted Boris Godunov's United States premiere on Wednesday, March 19, 1913. The Metropolitan Opera offered four performances of Boris Godunov in the opera's U.S. premiere season.

Boris Godunov's U.S. premiere was performed with an Italian libretto rather than Mussorgsky's original libretto. Boris Godunov was sung in Italian for the opera's first nine performance seasons (1912-1913 through 1920-1921).

Adamo Didur (Dec. 24, 1874-Jan. 7, 1946) created the title role at Met Opera. The Polish operatic bass portrayed Boris in the Italian-language version for the first nine season's 48 performances and for his 49th and last Boris portrayal in the 1924-1925 season. The Met's first Italian-singing Boris had made his Met Opera debut Saturday, Nov. 14, 1908, as Méphistophélès in the opera house's 256th performance of Faust by French composer Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893).

Fyodor Chaliapin (Feb. 13, 1873-April 12, 1938) succeeded Adamo Didur as Boris in the 1921-1922 season. Chaliapin's assumption of the role marked Met Opera's first Russian-singing Boris. While the cast and chorus sang in Italian, "Chaliapin always sang Boris in Russian," noted the Metropolitan Opera Archives Database (MetOpera Database) for each of the 38 Boris performances by the Russian operatic bass. Apart from the resumption of the Italian libretto for Adam Didur's single reprisal in the 1924-1925 season, Met Opera's Russian-Italian libretto was observed for eight seasons (1921-1922 through 1928-1929). Fyodor Chaliapin had made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, Nov. 20, 1907, in the title role in the opera house's 15th performance of Mefistofele by Italian composer and librettist Arrigo Boito (Feb. 24, 1842-June 10, 1918).

Met Opera restored Boris Godunov's all-Italian libretto with Fyodor Chaliapin's successor, Ezio Pinza (May 18, 1892-May 9, 1957). The Italian operatic bass portrayed Italian-singing Boris with 25 performances in five seasons (1938-1939; 1939-1940; 1942-1943; 1943-1944; 1946-1947). Ezio Pinza had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Nov. 1, 1926, as Pontifex Maximus in the opera house's sixth performance of La Vestale by Italian Classical period composer Gaspare Spontini (Nov. 14, 1774-Jan. 24, 1851).

Alexander Kipnis (Feb. 13 [Old Style: Feb. 1], 1891-May 14, 1978) interrupted the five seasons of Boris Godunov's all-Italian libretto with his four appearances in the 1942-1943 season. The Ukrainian, later naturalized (1931) American, operatic bass followed Fyodor Chaliapin's example by singing Boris in Russian while the cast and chorus observed the Italian libretto. Alexander Kipnis had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Jan. 5, 1940, as Gurnemanz in the opera house's 145th performance of Parsifal by German Romantic era composer-librettist Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883).

The assumption of the title role in the 1952-1953 season by American operatic bass-baritone George London (born George Burnstein; May 30, 1920-March 24, 1985) inaugurated English-language performances of Mussorgsky's historical Russian opera. Met Opera's first English-singing Boris appeared in 18 of the 54 performances offered during the English libretto's six season run ((1952-1953; 1953-1954; 1955-1956; 1958-1959; 1960-1961; 1962-1963). George London had made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, Nov. 13, 1951, as Amonasro in the opera house's 530th performance of Aida by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Met Opera introduced Boris Godunov's original Russian libretto into the opera company's repertoire in the 1974-1975 season. In his assumption of the title role, Martti Talvela (Feb. 4, 1935-July 22, 1989) became the first Met Opera Boris to sing in an all-Russian libretto. The Finnish operatic bass numbered as Met Opera's third Russian-singing Boris. His two Russian-singing Boris predecessors, Fyodor Chaliapin and Alexander Kipnis, however, had performed with Italian-singing casts and choruses. Martti Talvela sang Boris in 39 of the 68 performances that were offered during the next five seasons (1974-1975; 1975-1976; 1977-1978; 1982-1983; 1986-1987). He had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Oct. 7, 1968, as the Grand Inquisitor in the opera house's 74th performance of Verdi's Don Carlo.

Boris Godunov was not performed for three seasons, from 1987-1988 through 1989-1990. As of the 2021-2022 season, the Russian-language libretto has added five seasons (1990-1991, 1997-1998, 2003-2004, 2010-2011, 2021-2022) to its performance history. From its introduction in the 1974-1975 season to its most recent performance season, 2021-2022, the Russian-language Boris Godunov has contributed 10 performance seasons to the opera's 38-season performance history at Met Opera.

Finnish operatic bass Martti Talvela's role debut as Boris Godunov on Dec. 16, 1974, marked the first performance of the opera's original Russian libretto at Met Opera: Martti Talvela, via Facebook April 13, 2018

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

American operatic bass-baritone George London became the first to sing the title role of Boris Godunov in English at Met Opera with his addition of the role to his Met Opera portfolio on March 6, 1953; NBC portrait of George London, March 1953: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_London_1953.jpg

Finnish operatic bass Martti Talvela's role debut as Boris Godunov on Dec. 16, 1974, marked the first performance of the opera's original Russian libretto at Met Opera: Martti Talvela, via Facebook April 13, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1772746076124592&id=526130924119453

For further information:

Clark, Peter. "From the Archives: Boris Godunov at the Met." The Metropolitan Opera > Discover > Articles.
Available @ https://www.metopera.org/user-information/nightly-met-opera-streams/articles/from-the-archives-boris-godunov-at-the-met/

"Debut: Alexander Kipnis." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 127480 Parsifal {145} Matinee ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 01/5/1940.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=127480

Debut: Martti Talvela, Claudio Abbado." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 216210 Don Carlo {74} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/7/1968.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=216210

"Debuts: Adamo Didur, Jean Noté, Paolo Ananian, Francesco Spetrino, Jules Speck." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 42000 Faust {256} Academy of Music, New York, Brooklyn: 11/14/1908.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=42000

"Debuts: Anne Girerd, Fyodor Chaliapin, Riccardo Martin, Giuseppe Tecchi, A. Edel." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 40010 New production Mefistofele {15} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/20/1907.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=40010

"Debuts: Ezio Pinza, Arthur Mahoney." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 94000 La Vestale {6} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/1/1926. Opening Night {42} Giulio Gatti-Casazza, General Manager.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=94000

"Debuts: George London, Elena Nikolaidi, Janet Collins." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 158000 New production Aida {530} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/13/1951. Opening Night {67} Rudolf Bing, General Manager.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=158000

Karamzin, Nikolai Mikhailovich. History of the Russian State. Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library > Collections of the Presidential Library.
Available @ https://www.prlib.ru/en/karamzin_2-1

The Mariinsky Theatre. "Mariinsky Theatre." The Mariinsky Theatre > About the Theatre.
Available @ https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/about/history/mariinsky_theatre/

Marriner, Derdriu. "Boris Godunov Is Met Opera's Feb. 19, 2022, Saturday Matinee Broadcast." Earth and Space News. Monday, Feb. 14, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/02/boris-godunov-is-met-operas-feb-19-2022.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Kathleen Howard Began, Ended Met Opera Career as Boris Godunov's Nurse." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 21, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/06/kathleen-howard-began-ended-met-opera.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Kathleen Howard Sang Boris Godunov With Adamo Didur and Fyodor Chaliapin." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 28, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/06/kathleen-howard-sang-boris-godunov-with.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Met Opera Has Tallied 21 Borises in 273 Performances of Boris Godunov." Earth and Space News. Monday, Sept. 20, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/09/met-opera-has-tallied-21-borises-in-273.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "René Pape Added Boris Godunov to His Met Opera Portfolio Oct. 11, 2010." Earth and Space News. Monday, Sept. 27, 2021.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/09/rene-pape-added-boris-godunov-to-his.html

"United States Premiere Boris Godunov." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 54660 United States Premiere Boris Godunov {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/19/1913.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=54660