Boris Godunov

by Modest Mussorgsky

seen by live streaming from Covent Garden on 21 March 2016

Mussorgsky's original seven scene version is directed by Richard Jones and conducted by Antonio Pappano, and features Bryn Terfel in the title role. 

This early version of the opera is episodic, with little or no explanation as to why Boris is initially sought after as Tsar, only to become unpopular later on. This may well be because the story is well known in Russia, and also because it was unwise to probe too deeply into court intrigue even though Boris reigned before the Romanov dynasty came to power.

Although two of the seven scenes concentrate on the emergence of the 'false Dimitry' (David Butt Philip), a monk who decides to impersonate the younger son of Ivan the Terrible despite the fact that the child was known to have been murdered, the rebellion thus fomented barely registers on the stage. The final scenes show Boris's unpopularity with the crowd, and then concentrate on his personal collapse and death.

Akhnaten

by Philip Glass

seen at the Coliseum on 10 March 2016

Directed by Phelim McDermott and conducted by Karen Kamensek, this production features Anthony Roth Costanzo as the Pharaoh Akhnaten, Emma Carrington as his wife Nefertiti, Rebecca Bottone as his mother Queen Tye, Zachary James as the Scribe, Clive Bayley and James Cleverton as courtiers and Colin Judson as the High Priest of Amon.

This opera from 1984 uses untranslated Egyptian and Hebrew texts and some English, mainly spoken by the Scribe. Rather than attempting a narrative of Akhnaten's reign, it depicts various ritualised scenes relating to his father's funeral and his own accession, his promulgation of Aten-worship (replacing the age-old pantheon of Egyptian gods), his founding of a new royal city, his neglect of political affairs, and his final demise.