A feast for bass voices in the Staatsoper's sombre Boris Godunov

Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Boris Godunov)

Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Boris Godunov) and Vitalij Kowaljow (Pimen)

Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Boris Godunov)

Thomas Ebenstein (Shuisky)

By George Jahn, 17 May 2022

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Reviewed at Wiener Staatsoper, Vienna on 15 May 2022

Mussorgsky, Boris Godunov

Vienna State Opera

Sebastian Weigle, Conductor

Yannis Kokkos, Director, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera

Concert Association Vienna State Opera Chorus

Stephan Grögler, Director

Anne Blancard-Kokkos, Dramaturgy

Alexander Tsymbalyuk, Boris Godunov

Vitalij Kowaljow, Pimen

Dmitry Golovnin, Grigory

Ileana Tonca, Xenia

Margaret Plummer, Feodor

Thomas Ebenstein, Prince Shuisky

Stephanie Houtzeel, Xenia's nurse

Sergey Kaydalov, Shchelkalov

Ilja Kazakov, Varlaam

Daniel Jenz, Missail

Stephanie Maitland, The Innkeeper

Evgeny Solodovnikov, Nikitich

Andrea Giovannini, Simpleton

Marcus Pelz, Mityukha

Dan Paul Dumitrescu, The Boyar Khrushchov

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George Jahn

George Jahn is the former Vienna bureau chief of The Associated Press. During his 35-year career at the global news organization, he covered wars, politics... and opera, reviewing productions at the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, Bayreuth Festival and other houses in Austria and Germany. He has also written for Opera Now and International Piano magazines in London. Those he has interviewed include Matthias Goerne, Vesselina Kasarova, Thomas Hampson and Mariss Jansons. George holds or shares awards for his reporting on U.N. affairs and for his coverage of the Bosnian war. A Canadian/Hungarian citizen, he splits his time between residences in Vienna and Budapest.

A feast for bass voices in the Wiener Staatsoper's sombre Boris Godunov