Boris Godunov

In this Mussorgsky masterpiece, a Russian ruler is haunted by a horrible act he committed years earlier. The concise original version of the opera, focusing on the emotional disintegration of the title character, creates a theatrical experience of searing intensity. Samuel Ramey, recipient of the 2003 San Francisco Opera Medal, returns in the title role. The Washington Post raved: “His electrical presence, his bounding athleticism, his keen intelligence, his dark and chimerically versatile bass voice were all put to the noblest of purposes: a fully fleshed-out, highly complicated portrayal of the flawed Czar.”