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In a recent Carnegie Hall concert, the awesomely gifted German bass Ren\u00e9 Pape teased the audience with seven minutes of Mussorgsky\u2019s \u201cBoris Godunov\u201d\u2014an opera in which he sang last year in Berlin but has yet to tackle on this side of the Atlantic. With the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, he delivered Boris\u2019s Act II monologue, wherein the tsar declares that he has achieved supreme power, but remains tormented by his murderous past. Pape\u2019s voice remains one of the most remarkable in opera: it is anchored on low notes of rocklike solidity and blazes brilliantly as it goes above middle C. These are qualities that make for a great Boris, and also for a great Wotan\u2014a role that Pape plans to undertake in a couple years\u2019 time. (He\u2019ll sing the Wagnerian roles of Fasolt, Hunding, and King Marke at the Met next season.) Yet the singer didn\u2019t quite convey the tsar\u2019s vulnerability, his inner terror. The next test for Pape is to use the power of his voice to convey the loss of power, the helplessness of being human.<\/p>\n