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Modest Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov Vol. 04 (1978)
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Following the death of Tsar Fyodor I, his regent and father Boris Godunov is implored to take the crown. Although, in 1598, he is crowned in Moscow amidst cheering crowds and has reached the pinnacle of his power, Boris Godunov is tormented by guilt. Years earlier, he had given orders to have Dimitri, the rightful heir to the Russian throne, killed in order to secure the crown for himself. As rumors of an emerging "fake Tsarevich Dimitri" continue to circulate. Godunov is overcome with frenzied mental anguish and hallucinations. Delirious, he begins to imagine that his victim's ghost is pursuing him. He feels certain that his own death is close at hand. In the meantime, the Russian people have become disenchanted with their Tsar. In the hopes of a better existence, the starved, oppressed peasants vow to follow and support Dimitri in his quest for the Russian throne.
Upon his deathbed, Godunov looks back on a life filled with the struggle for supreme authority, filled with violence and terror. But his reign was just as much marked by loneliness, suspicion and fear. Boris Godunov names his son heir to the Russian throne and bids him farewell, imploring him to beware of the enemy, and to always stay true to his noble character.
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