Boris Christoff contents himself with only singing his namesake here (in his two famous studio recordings he sings Pimen and Varlaam as well). He is superb, bringing his craggy, unmistakable bass and dramatic presence to a sometimes terrifying, often moving portrayal of a man haunted with guilt.The other singers are to a person excellent too. Mirto Picchi is the Dimitri of one's dreams, singing lyrically, but with ringing tone on top. Giuseppe Modesti gives a lengthy lesson in bel canto; one looks forward to his scenes rather than dreading them. Angelo Mercuriali is an unusually strong-voiced Shuisky, doubling it with the Simpleton. Rina Corsi's part is very abbreviated here (Act Three, scene one and the character of Rangoni are eliminated completely), but she brings a voluptuous tone and keen dramatic instincts to what is left of her role (she normally specialized in comprimaria roles). Loretta di Lelio, the future Mrs. Franco Corelli, sings a beautiful Xenia. Rodzinski leads a powerful performance of the standard version of the score with most of the standard cuts.The sound is mostly very good with a few volume dips here and there and some occasional static that doesn't really intrude. The Italian translation makes the vocal lines sound more Italianate.