BORIS GODUNOFF

Composer: MODEST MOUSSORGSKY Book by the composer, from the play by Alexander Pushkin First performance: Imperial Opera House, St. Petersburg, January 24, 1874 3 acts. THE SCENE of this opera is laid in Ru ia where Boris Godunoff has murdered the Czarevitch Dimitri and has himself taken the throne of the country. Enraged by this action a novitiate of a monastery impersonates Dimitri and proceeds toward Moscow. A young Polish girl of rank, Marina, wants to marry Dimitri and ascend the throne with him. Rumours of the masquerader have reached Boris who is already repenting the murder of the Czarevitch. When the would-be Dimitri arrives in Moscow, the aroused public condemns him to death. Boris dies of remorse, leaving the throne to his son. III. Synopses of Operas (Stories of the Operas) — C c