Leon Bakst's Costume Designs for "Boris Godunov." Comoedia Illustre (June 5, 1913)
On May 19, 1908, Diaghilev premiered Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov at the Paris Opera for the first time outside of Russia, featuring the legendary Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin, Dmitri Smirnov, conductor Felix Blumenfeldt and the chorus of the Imperial Theatre of Moscow. The music was composed by Mussorgsky, revised and orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov, and the sets and costumes were by Aleksandr Golovin and Alexandre Benois, among others. The libretto was based on a play by Alexander Pushkin about the struggle between Boris Godunov and a False Dmitry (usurper) during a troubled period in Russian history. Boris Godunov was Tsar from 1598-1605 and, from 1601-1603, Russia suffered a famine that killed one-third of the population, about two million. At the time, Russia was occupied by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and suffered civil uprisings, usurpers and imposters. It was a time of troubles for Russia that lasted from the end of the Rurik dynasty in 1598 to the establishment of the Romanov dynasty in 1613. This time has inspired many artists and playwrights in Russia and beyond.
The opera, in its original form, was first produced in 1874 in St. Petersburg and in Rimsky-Korsakov’s revised version in 1896. “Boris Godunov was Diaghilev’s first foray into the world of Parisian theatre. Financed in part by the tsar, the production was intended to reassure the French, who were underwriting an increasingly crippled Russia, that its eastern ally was indeed worthy of support.” [National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.]
Leon Bakst's Costume Designs for "Boris Godunov." Comoedia Illustre (June 5, 1913)
On May 19, 1908, Diaghilev premiered Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov at the Paris Opera for the first time outside of Russia, featuring the legendary Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin, Dmitri Smirnov, conductor Felix Blumenfeldt and the chorus of the Imperial Theatre of Moscow. The music was composed by Mussorgsky, revised and orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov, and the sets and costumes were by Aleksandr Golovin and Alexandre Benois, among others. The libretto was based on a play by Alexander Pushkin about the struggle between Boris Godunov and a False Dmitry (usurper) during a troubled period in Russian history. Boris Godunov was Tsar from 1598-1605 and, from 1601-1603, Russia suffered a famine that killed one-third of the population, about two million. At the time, Russia was occupied by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and suffered civil uprisings, usurpers and imposters. It was a time of troubles for Russia that lasted from the end of the Rurik dynasty in 1598 to the establishment of the Romanov dynasty in 1613. This time has inspired many artists and playwrights in Russia and beyond.
The opera, in its original form, was first produced in 1874 in St. Petersburg and in Rimsky-Korsakov’s revised version in 1896. “Boris Godunov was Diaghilev’s first foray into the world of Parisian theatre. Financed in part by the tsar, the production was intended to reassure the French, who were underwriting an increasingly crippled Russia, that its eastern ally was indeed worthy of support.” [National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.]