"Complex yet rewarding in structure and intent, the book provides an admirable range of cultural-historical, musical and textological analysis and context, as well as performance and reception history....The volume features an excellent select biography and an interesting...discography." David Shengold, Slavic and East European Journal
List of illustrations; List of tables; Preface and acknowledgments; Part I. Background: 1. Tsar Boris in history; 2. Musorgsky's literary sources, Karamzin and Pushkin; 3. Narrative and musical synopsis of the opera; 4. History of the composition, rejection, revision, and acceptance of Boris Godunov; 5. A tale of two productions - St. Petersburg (1874–1882), Paris (1908); Part II. Entr'acte: 6. Boris and the censor: documents; 7. The opera through the years: selected texts in criticism; Part III. Interpretation: 8. The Boris libretto as a formal, literary, and historical problem; 9. The music; 10. Boris Godunov during the jubilee decade: the 1980s and beyond; Discography; Bibliography; Index.