‘Boris Godunov’ at the Metropolitan Opera

René Pape begins the 2021/22 season with his return to the Metropolitan Opera as his signature title role of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov on September 28, and October 2, 5, 9, 14, 17. Conductor Sebastian Weigle leads Mussorgsky’s masterwork, a pillar of the Russian repertoire, in its original 1869 version, which runs two-and-a-quarter hours with no intermission.

Mr. Papé shares the stage with David Butt Philip as Grigory, Maxim Paster as Shuisky, Aleksey Bogdanov as Shchelkalov, Ain Anger as Pimen, and Ryan Speedo Green as Varlaam. Previously at the Met Opera, René Pape starred in Stephen Wadsworth’s affecting production of Boris Godunov garnering rave reviews from The Classical Review:

“[Papé] was in full command of his powerful, dramatic bass, letting it soar as he surveyed the maps of his empire — “like looking down from the clouds” — in a show of political power and paternal pride that made his ensuing descent into madness all the more riveting. Pape is able to convey intensity independently of volume, and knows how to build up dramatic tension over the course of his long monologues.”

Photo: Jiyang Chen