Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina ****
Prom 29, Royal Albert Hall, 6th August 2017
At the end of Götterdämmerung, Brünnhilde rides her horse onto a pyre. Although his opera’s not quite as long, Mussorgsky trumps Wagner by sending a whole chorus to their immolation as Act 5 of Khovanshchina draws to its fiery close. The Proms didn’t run to a semi-staging of this epic slice of Russian history – just a few cheap disco light effects to suggest the Albert Hall was aflame – but Semyon Bychkov turned in a magisterial account of this rugged score, aided and abetted by some strong vocal performances.
Elena Maximova
© BBC | Chris Christodoulou
Read the full review on Bachtrack.