A topical opera on Russia
Kirill Serebrennikov is directing Boris Godunov
Don’t expect any showy Kremlin onion domes or decadent tsars’ cloaks. In his stage direction of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, the Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov is interested in the experiences of the Russian people in the present time. Inspired by the work of the photographer Dmitry Markov, Serebrennikov portrays people who go through life feeling powerless and apathetic.
The Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov, who was previously responsible for a highly personal interpretation of Weber's Der Freischütz at Dutch National Opera in 2022, is now tackling an opera that has a special place in his heart. That is because Boris Godunov is not merely about a tsar who finds himself embroiled in a political quagmire but also about how that situation impacts the Russian people (a role played by the chorus). Serebrennikov has first-hand experience of the far-reaching consequences for people who antagonise the Kremlin. In his Gogol Centre in Moscow, Serebrennikov was not afraid to make critical political comments or ask difficult questions.
In 2017, Serebrennikov was arrested on suspicion of embezzling grant money. He then spent two years under house arrest, but continued to work while stuck in his apartment, without phone or internet and wearing an ankle monitor. His lawyer paid daily visits, carrying USB sticks full of recordings of rehearsals and documents with notes. Although the house arrest was lifted in April 2019, Serebrennikov still faced restrictions in Russia. He received a suspended custodial sentence of three years and a fine and he was banned from leaving the country. When he unexpectedly received permission to travel to Hamburg for a premiere in January 2022, he decided not to return to Moscow. Since then, Serebrennikov has been based in Berlin.
Dmitry Markov
Unlike Serebrennikov, most Russians prefer to stay under the radar and not speak out. Those Russians are precisely the group Serebrennikov wants to focus on in his production of Boris Godunov. He found inspiration for the production’s design and aesthetics in the work of the recently deceased photographer Dmitry Markov. Armed with an iPhone, Markov travelled across Russia to record daily life in the suburbs and the countryside. “He was able to capture the people’s soul, their DNA. If you want to understand Russians, you should look at his photos,” says Serebrennikov. “A vast number people live in the Russia that he photographed. Dmitry looked at that world and was able to see beauty, eroticism and a kind of glamour.”
Inspired by Markov’s images, Serebrennikov shows a cross-section of an apartment block at the back of the stage, a block typical of the ones built en masse during the Soviet period. There is a television screen in each apartment, through which the people are fed carefully curated propaganda. Their attitude to politics is one of benumbed apathy: their lives continue regardless. But what about the personal drama of Tsar Boris? That story gets a twist in Serebrennikov’s production. “I certainly do not want to give a romanticised portrayal of the tortured politician who, when all is said and done, is ‘also only a man’,” says Serebrennikov. “I don’t want to condone anything: the consequences for the people are too great for that.”
Dutch text: Laura Roling
Boris Godunov will run from 10 to 29 June 2025 at Dutch National Opera & Ballet.