Khovanshchina

Modest Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina stands as a towering finale in his output, and this 1989 Vienna State Opera recording presents it in a stark, intense light. The score tracks a late 17th century power struggle as old Russia and its slow turning toward reform collide in a city caught between tradition and change. Under Claudio Abbado the ensemble weaves a dense mood of political intrigue and intimate downcast moments, with a cast that includes Vladimir Atlantov as a conflicted noble, Paata Burchuladze as the stern Dositheus, and Anatoly Kocherga as the shrewd Shaklovity. The drama unfolds through buzzing ensembles, grave marches, and moments of quiet personal resolve, all culminating in a potent meditation on loyalty, faith, and survival for wary audiences.

Brian Large frames the Vienna State Opera staging with clarifying camera work that lets Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina sing on screen, with a libretto drawn from the era by Modest Mussorgsky and Vladimir Strassov and performance practice for modern audiences.

Box office data for this filmed performance are not publicly reported, as the release is primarily a televised or cinema recording of a stage production rather than a conventional movie with a single gross. There is no worldwide tally globally.

Among opera fans it is remembered for Abbado's precise conducting and a stellar supporting lineup that includes Paata Burchuladze and Nicolai Ghiaurov alongside Vladimir Atlantov and Anatoly Kocherga, giving Khovanshchina its searing blend of liturgy and political menace. Their voices meld ritual and revolution into a compact dramatic force today.

Critics have highlighted this version as a powerful, if at times austere, interpretation that emphasizes the opera's moral ambiguity and historical scope. The work probes loyalties, the cost of power, and the clash between old order and reform, all wrapped in Mussorgsky's urgent musical language that still resonates loudly today.