---
product_id: 207810831
title: "Modest Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina ~ Gergiev"
brand: "modest mussorgskydmitry shostakovichvalery gergievst. petersburg kirov chorus and orchestraolga borodinabulat minjelkievjevgenia tselovalniknikolai gassievvladimir galusin"
price: "329 kr"
currency: DKK
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 4
url: https://www.desertcart.dk/products/207810831-modest-mussorgsky-khovanshchina-gergiev
store_origin: DK
region: Denmark
---

# Modest Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina ~ Gergiev

**Brand:** modest mussorgskydmitry shostakovichvalery gergievst. petersburg kirov chorus and orchestraolga borodinabulat minjelkievjevgenia tselovalniknikolai gassievvladimir galusin
**Price:** 329 kr
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Modest Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina ~ Gergiev by modest mussorgskydmitry shostakovichvalery gergievst. petersburg kirov chorus and orchestraolga borodinabulat minjelkievjevgenia tselovalniknikolai gassievvladimir galusin
- **How much does it cost?** 329 kr with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.dk](https://www.desertcart.dk/products/207810831-modest-mussorgsky-khovanshchina-gergiev)

## Best For

- modest mussorgskydmitry shostakovichvalery gergievst. petersburg kirov chorus and orchestraolga borodinabulat minjelkievjevgenia tselovalniknikolai gassievvladimir galusin enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted modest mussorgskydmitry shostakovichvalery gergievst. petersburg kirov chorus and orchestraolga borodinabulat minjelkievjevgenia tselovalniknikolai gassievvladimir galusin brand quality
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## Description

.com          Conductor Valery Gergiev's recordings can be counted on for the sort of fine ensemble work that comes from years of working together, idiomatic singing, high energy levels, and, when they're available, non-standard editions of scores of the Russian works that are his opera company's specialty. This time it's the Shostakovich version--instead of the standard Rimsky-Korsakov--in an opera that Mussorgsky, who died before it was completed, typically left rich in gorgeous tunes but with plenty of room for cleanup. Although the very Slavic vocal production of the cast will not appeal to all ears (especially in the tenor department), mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina stands out. This production is also available in a video version, which might help the non-Russian make a little more sense out of the most confusing and convoluted plot since Il Trovatore. --Sarah Bryan Miller

## Images

![Modest Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina ~ Gergiev - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81g4kGCDLhL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    One of the reigning modern versions
  

*by H***T on Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2007*

Reading the reviews below is like stepping into an old family squabble. As an outsider, I am mostly at a loss over what the argument is about. If you discount all the contention over which edition to use, the superior of Bulgarian singing over Russian, and other arcana, this is a fine recording, full of drama and eminently musical from beginning to end. Gergiev's conducting is masterful. He shows a light, lyrical touch throughout, a blessing in an opera where competing religious sects spend a lot of time declaiming and out-shouting one another. By comparison, the highly regarded Abbado recording on DG is more aggressive. All the singers here are up to their parts, exhibiting Gergiev's preference for an ensemble cast rather than a starry one--Olga Borodina is the only singer who has gained an international reputation.Perhpas experts in Slavic opera can find fault, but those of us coming new to Khovanshchina can't help but marvel at its melodic genius and emotional intensity, at its fervent spirituality and primal cultural clashes. In sum, a very appealing set.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    A wonderful recording of a truly magnificant opera
  

*by G***O on Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2000*

I bought Khovanschina on a whim because I like Moussorgsky and this opera is quite wonderful.  The operas prelude "Dawn Over the River Moscow" is one of the most beautiful preludes I have ever heard.  There is also some fimilar (mainstream classical) pieces taken from this  Russian masterpiece.Conducting, orchestra, and vocals (especially Olga  Borodina) are all fine here.Truly a beautiful peace that I highly  recommend.  Full of lovely chorus'.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Mussorgsky's beautiful "Khovanschina"
  

*by J***2 on Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2014*

I want to emphasize just what a terrific opera Modest Mussorgsky's "Khovanschina" is.  Overlooked because it wasn't fully complete on the composer's death and existing in the shade of the great "Boris Godunov", "Khovanschina" is one of the best operas to come out of the 19th-century.  It combines originality with a sure melodic gift.  The originality is simply striking: there is heavy use of bare modal thematic fragments, often in a static, repetitive harmonic frame, and instrumented in a sparse way that makes it a clear ancestor of Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" from 40 years later.  The melodies are wonderful, with many themes that are instantly memorable.  I won't put the opera on the level of "Carmen" or "Tristan" but it is honestly at the tier right below that, as good as say "Aida" or "Barber of Seville".The fact that Mussorgsky, an alcoholic and likely a closeted homosexual who led a chaotic life, left the score of "Khovanschina" in disarray on his death in 1881 hasn't helped the opera's standing.  Two of the acts are left incomplete, Act IV was not orchestrated, and the ordering of the scenes is also up in the air.  The opera also has plot difficulties, as Mussorgsky wrote the bulk of the opera in disjointed bursts of activity in the 1870s, without a libretto really existing.  All of these drawbacks put "Khovanischina" at a disadvantage.  But those disadvantages aren't sufficient to offset the brilliance of the concluding prayer in Act I, cadencing with a massive imitation gong sound in the orchestra, or the Persian dance in Act IV, one of the most attractive Russian dances written, just two of many examples of the opera's great moments.Into the breach of the "Khovanschina" manuscript stepped Mussorgsky's friend, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who rewrote significant portions of it, making it a less novel, more traditional work, much to its detriment, in my opinion.  Another great Russian composer, Dmitri Shostakovich took the original manuscript and removed many of the changes introduced by Rimsky-Korsakov, in 1958.It is this Shostakovich version that Russian maestro Valery Gergiev fortunately opted to use in this 1991 Kirov Opera performance under review here.  Gergiev's contribution to this performance is easily the best of the performers.  I found his balancing of the instruments to be outstanding and natural.  The singing is generally good without being better than that.  The biggest name in cast is mezzo Olga Borodina, in the role of Marfa, and she is oddly the weakest of the leads, with some ragged singing in her earlier numbers.  I also found the chorus to be just ok.  None of this is helped by a muddy and substandard engineering job from Philips (the later Kirov Opera releases on this label are better).Because of the average singing and the below-par sound, I am downgrading this CD set to 4 stars, but classical and opera fans should seek out "Khovanschina", a remarkable composition.

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*Product available on Desertcart Denmark*
*Store origin: DK*
*Last updated: 2026-02-20*