As I watched the opera excerpts, I was immediately struck by a number of things: first, the costumes. The aesthetic feels truly Russian and the splendor of the Tsar and his men surrounding him, backed by a massive church bell, is a striking image. Delving deeper, I was fascinated by the begging of the commoners, urged on by the always conniving boyars, pleading with Boris Godunov to rule over them. The way Boris looks down at the peasants reaching after him is a bit terrifying, paired with the divine worship the Tsar receives “throughout Russia”.

Once again, as many of our texts and films have shown, religion permeates every aspect of life — blessing the new Tsar as a sort of deity himself, the monks discussing internal strife and the benefits of leaving the “world of sin”… There is an immense amount of respect held for monastic life. Moving on, can we talk about the monk’s discussion of Ivan’s son’s death?! It was like another perspective on that famous portrait; I loved it.

Lastly, I was very interested by the dying words of the Tsar to his son, as he ushered him into an era to come that would not be easy to reign over. The pose of the Tsar dying in his son’s arms was a strangely pleasing parallel to the earlier discussion of Ivan IV (and of course how his relationship with his firstborn played out). It was a truly painful scene (“o cruel death, you torment me!”) complete with an absolutely dramatic death that seems to be key.

Apologies if this is not my best or most succinct writing, but this opera made for a good sick-in-bed watch!