Interpretation of Boris Godunov's part by Bulgarian opera stars: B. Hristov and N. Giaurov

Abstract

The subject of this study is the interpretation of Boris Godunov's part in the opera of the same name by M.P. Mussorgsky by two Bulgarian opera stars: B. Hristov and N. Giaurov, as well as their approach to working on this role. Aiming to reveal the main semantic accents of the interpretation of the title part of the opera "Boris Godunov", the author analyzed reviews and essays of opera critics, biographical works of researchers of the singers' creativity, as well as memoirs of their contemporaries and interviews with the artists themselves as research material. The relevance of the presented work is seen in the need to carefully study the world performing heritage of the opera scene, which will create the basis for new, worthy interpretations. According to the results of the research, the author came to the conclusion that Christ's main semantic emphasis in the interpretation of the party is placed on the lofty, worthy aspirations of the tsar, who, being a dreamer and a knight, sought to exalt and strengthen his state, but fell victim to boyar resistance and the inexorable course of Russian history. Giaurov does not justify Godunov at all, although he forms the image of an awe-inspiring and admiring sovereign - monumental, domineering and proud. If Hristov, following Mussorgsky, saw in Tsar Boris a man crushed by power, then for Giaurov, as for Pushkin, the image of a tsar who subordinated everything human in himself to his main goal - power is closer.