---
product_id: 126375036
title: "Mussorgsky - Khovanshchina / Nesterenko, Vedernikov, Arkhipova, Simonov, Bolshoi Opera"
brand: "kulter"
price: "€ 51.17"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 9
category: "DVD"
url: https://www.desertcart.hr/products/126375036-mussorgsky-khovanshchina-nesterenko-vedernikov-arkhipova-simonov-bolshoi-opera
store_origin: HR
region: Croatia
---

# Mussorgsky - Khovanshchina / Nesterenko, Vedernikov, Arkhipova, Simonov, Bolshoi Opera

**Brand:** kulter
**Price:** € 51.17
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Mussorgsky - Khovanshchina / Nesterenko, Vedernikov, Arkhipova, Simonov, Bolshoi Opera by kulter
- **How much does it cost?** € 51.17 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.hr](https://www.desertcart.hr/products/126375036-mussorgsky-khovanshchina-nesterenko-vedernikov-arkhipova-simonov-bolshoi-opera)

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## Description

This is the only full-length performance of Mussorgsky&apos;s opera. Conductor Yuri Simonov conducts the acclaimed Bolshoi Chorus in this fabulous program.

## Images

![Mussorgsky - Khovanshchina / Nesterenko, Vedernikov, Arkhipova, Simonov, Bolshoi Opera - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51jf0zKh1jL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Mystery Masterpiece
  

*by D***N on Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2011*

As one reviewer has already said, Khovanshchina is a "sprawling" masterpiece. But it has a number of mysteries associated with it also. The opera was little more than a collection of scenes written over a period of years that were collected by Vladimir Stasov as the "blue notebook". These were divided into acts by Rimsky Korsikov who also took Mussorgsky' music sketches (only two small scenes had been orchestrated) and fashioned an opera out of them. There were revisions by Rimsky-Korsikov himself; another by Stravinsky and Ravel for the Paris premier as well as by Shostakovitch who in time reorchestrated the whole thing for the Marinsky and a classic film. Thus there is no "final" authoritative score. The opera itself remains a mystery in what the composers judgement was for the actions portrayed in the opera. It came into existence in Tsar Peter the Great bicentenary year and concerns the history of his consolidating power against old Russia and forming a modern state in the "western-European" mode. He did this by destroying the old serf state, the old princes powers, the old church beliefs and gave rise to the modern state of Russia; but it was a very bloody road. This situation came about when his father Tsar Fyodor Alexeyevich (Romanov) died age 20 leaving a 16 year old brother, dim-witted Ivan and a half brother Peter. A nasty mess of palace intrigues followed so that both brothers were installed as Tsar with an older sister Sophia as regent. In order consolidate his power he needed to eliminate the Strel'tsi ( a militia) and their leader Ivan Khovansky and son Andrey (their two revolts are called the Khovansky affairs (Khovanshchina).Only the latter is represented in the opera. In the opera Shaklovity elininates Khovansky as Peter's agent and the son dies in flames in the end of the opera. Peter's second opponent is Sophie as represented by Golitsin her chief minister (and lover) but she plots Peter's murder with Golitsin and she is banished and Golitsin is exiled. The final opposition is represented in the opera as the "Old Believers". They want the church reforms of Peter and Peter's father annuled and a return to "'that old time religion". In the opera they are the only ones that remain undefiled by plots, ambitions or greed. Yet they along with the evil actors in the story end in the dust bin of history. There is the mystery: the opera as done by Rimsky-Korsakov lets us think that all the plots and the burning of the "Old Believers" was worth the price to form modern Russia and Peter is the Hero. But from Mussorgsky's notes, conversations with Stasov (collector of Mussorgsky's librettos) and writings he may have said that Peter and his culprits should be condemned by history. This would mean that at the ending of the opera the Old Believers singing should fade out and end instead of having the triumphal trumpets of Peter the Great's army in thier French-inspired uniforms heralding the "New Russia".Yes, there are many technical problems with this DVD and many other little things to find fault with but I cherish this  album to hear one of the greatest basses in my memory: Evgeny Nesterenko. Only Boris Christof comes close.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A Conundrum in the History of Russian Opera
  

*by D***S on Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2001*

Modeste Mussorgsky drank himself to death in his early 40's, leaving nothing but the vocal score to this magnificent, positively sprawling cornerstone of Russian culture. Aside from one short strophic song in Act 3, Mussorgsky's ideas about the orchestral scoring of Khovanshchina were left to chance. This production presents the version of Mussorgsky's friend and mentor Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: one of the most phenomenal misappropriations of opera history. The two composers could not have been more dissimilar - Rimsky-Korsakov failed utterly and completely to understand Mussorgsky's revolutionary genius, thus confusing the public for Khovanshchina as well, first in Russia, where the Rimsky-Korsakov version was standard for decades, and later in the West. The version is full of musically alien Germanisms and too precious dramatic "moments," woefully lacking in long-range tension and the kind of penetrating psychology that is the essence of Mussorgsky. About this video there is a critical, three-pronged allure. It is the tension between the soaringly FABULOUS vocalism of the soloists, the grandeur of the production (especially the costumes), and the patchy version of the score, probably responsible for the out-dated notion that Khovanshchina is too epic for its own good. (Just listen to Shostakovich's later orchestration - a huge success in comparison.)  Yevgeni Nesterenko as Dosifei is a force of nature - simply awe-inspiring. Irina Arkhipova (recently her role in the Soviet government has been revealed - suffice it to say her colleagues should have been terrified of her political influence) sings Marfa with bravura but maintains an unbecoming haughtiness throughout. Truly world-class singing from the other soloists and the chorus reinforces that, for melomanes, Russophiles, and indeed almost all music lovers, this a video not to miss.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Very good
  

*by I***N on Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2020*

Mussorsky is Mussorsky.  He get his review couple on hundreds years ego. Steal very good.

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*Product available on Desertcart Croatia*
*Store origin: HR*
*Last updated: 2026-03-07*