The Bavarian Radio went all out for this recording of Mussorgsky's most famous opera. Not only was a star-studded cast assembled, but Jochum performs almost the entire Shostakovich edition uncut (very rare at the time).Hotter, singing in his native language, is predictably superb. Vocally he is in relaxed form with little of the unsteadiness that could afflict his tone from this time forward. He offers not just a commanding presence, but a humanity that tempers his guilt. His soft singing just before he dies is unearthly in its beauty. Hopf sings extremely well with ringing top notes. His scene with Mödl is one of the highlights of the performance. Mödl herself has a role that doesn't tax her voice and she asserts herself boldly in her two scenes. Kusche gets to sing most of his role as the manipulative priest Rangoni. Böhme sings a rousing Varlaam without shouting the role, Borg sings Pimen's long monologues with true vocal beauty. Fehenberger gives Shuisky more gumption than we sometimes hear, displaying an attractive lyric tenor too. Uhde, Siebert, Schädle, Töpper, Benningsen, and Kuën are all heard in smaller roles that add to the sense of occasion. Moreover some sense of stage performance is heard when Fyodor and the Nurse clap along in their song and Fyodor is later heard softly weeping over his father's body. Even the children's chorus is heard in the last act. The sound is superb.All Boris fans should get this.

I have this performance on Myto. It's not the Rimsky-Korsakov orchestration, but rather that by Dmitri Shostakovich, commissioned by the Bolshoi around 1939, and also used by the Met from 1960 until c. 1974. It's worth hearing for Shostakovich's sometimes controversial orchestration. Shostakovich orchestrated both the 1869 and final 1872-74 versions, following Paval Lamm's mid-1920s edition. The Munich performance, recorded for broadcast rather than staged, is based primarily on 1872-74, but including the St. Basil scene at the beginning of Act IV, and the first appearance of the Simpleton cut in the Revolutionary Scene (as it should be when St. Basil is done with 1872-74, to avoid redundancy). Despite being sung in German, most of the cast is highly effective in their roles. Martha Modl's career as a soprano was on the wane by 1957, but in this mezzo role she is highly effective and vocally secure. Only Hopf is a disappointment, his beefy, forced vocal production sounding too old for a young Pretender. Jochum leads a vigorous, exciting performance. The performance is definitely off the beaten Boris track, and his highly recommended for that reason. Gary Galo